Konoha's Most Unpredictable Conduit
by V-Vendetta
Summary: What if Delsin Rowe was transported to Konoha after touching a dimension traveling conduit? What if he was sealed up alongside Kyuubi? What if some major clan heads agreed to help Naruto? Watch as he encounters all odds! M for lemons, cursing etc.) AU! Obito and Madara don't exist, along with Akatsuki. Graduation is at 16 to help with romance.
1. Birth of a Conduit

What would happen if Delsin Rowe was somehow transported after a touch from a dimension-traveling conduit? What would happen if he was obliterated upon touching Kyuubi's chakra, but his conduit powers and spirit resided within Naruto's stomach? Find out here! This story idea came to me while finishing up the inFAMOUS: Second Son hero side after completing the evil side first. I was satisfied in both endings of the game, and this popped into my head. So here we are.

-V

* * *

Delsin Rowe: 24 year old small time delinquent, turned hero based on his actions to save Seattle from the D.U.P., an organization that was constructed to hunt down conduits (people who had super powers) and lock them away at Curdan Cay. Delsin inadvertently created a second age of man, where conduits and humans could co-exist and live in harmony. Here we find our young hero gliding down to the street level, blasting out some smoke cinders to dispatch the thugs that surrounded the male who was currently cowering on the ground. Landing, Delsin watched the male rise to his feet before he extended his hand, "Name's Delsin Rowe, and you are?"

"Well Delsin, my name is Bruce." The male said as he shook Delsin's hand, only for a bright light to envelop them both.

"You're a conduit?!" They both asked each other in unison, before Delsin was sucked up and thrown into a time vortex. He let out a scream of agony, his head feeling like it was about to be split open as he traveled through-out time and space and ejected out into another dimension. Opening his eyes in mid-fall, he saw a giant nine tailed fox laying waste to a settlement. People were giving their lives, trying to hold the beast back and Delsin had a duty as a hero to help out. Seeing the bodies that had already fallen to the beast, Delsin wondered if he even had a chance. However, upon seeing a blonde haired male atop of a giant toad with a tanto made him smile slightly. Seems like he was giving it is all as well, and so Delsin would as well. He let out a yell as he preformed a comet drop on top of the fox's head, watching as it growled in irritation and slight pain. The blonde haired male looked at Delsin in surprise before teleporting them away from the village in a flash of yellow. The only reason the Fourth didn't do so sooner, was because he didn't have enough time to execute the attack. The arrival of the man from the sky changed that.

**"Foolish human! Get your filthy mitts off of me!" **The fox roared, much to Delsin's surprise. Then again, he had just freed Seattle from people who were hunting down others with super powers, so talking animals shouldn't have surprised him. He shook his head and unwrapped his chain, proceeding to swing it at the fox, the weapon imbued with fire and smoke. The fox shook his head, trying to get Delsin off only for the male on top of the toad to finish his hand seals. Suddenly the fox's body started to dissolve, becoming pure energy. Delsin watched in morbid fascination as his skin started to dissolve as well, touching the energy that was currently being sucked into an unknown container. Delsin proceeded to let out another scream of agony, his entire body being vaporized onto an atomic level, his blood and conduit powers melding with the fox's energy that was then sealed into the wailing baby boy.

His weapon, the small chain he had gotten at the fish factory in Salmon Bay dropped to the ground, only to be picked up by a young adult with gravity defying gray hair, and a headband over his eyes. The male noticed Delsin's sacrifice. The one-eyed man pocketed the chain before he sprinted over to the toad who was holding onto the deceased body of his sensei, and to the baby boy.

**"Ah, Kakashi." **The giant toad known as Gambuta spoke, gazing down at the male from over his pipe.

"Gambuta-sama." Kakashi said with a bow. He quickly created a clone as said clone picked up the body of the deceased Fourth Hokage, while the real Kakashi picked up Naruto within his arms. "What happened to the other male? The one that fell from the sky?" He rose an eyebrow at the giant toad summon, who puffed at his pipe, releasing the giant plume of smoke as it billowed in the air.

**"He was vaporized upon contact with the Kyuubi's chakra. His sacrifice was not in vain, for it bought the Yodiame some time." **With that, the toad boss disappeared, leaving the two Kakashi's to travel back to the village hidden in the leafs, the young baby in his arms sporting three whisker marks on each cheek, smoke swirling around his body. While Kakashi paid attention to this, he figured it was the aftermath from the sealing and put it in the back of his mind. Arriving next to the previous Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, or the Sandiame, Kakashi looked at him for instructions.

"Oh Kami." The elderly man breathed out, as he took a look at the deceased body of his successor. He grimaced before he held the baby boy within his arms, looking down at the bright blue eyes that stared up into his dark brown ones. He let a small smile cross his features, there was some life despite all of the death that had occurred tonight.

"Sarutobi-Sama?" Kakashi asked, looking at him. "What is the boy's name?"

"His name?" The old man looked up him and blinked before focusing back onto the boy who was now soundly asleep once more. "The boy's name is Naruto Uzumaki." He let out a groan of protest as he began to think, knowing that a council meeting was to be had, and something had to be done about Naruto. He sighed, knowing that he would have to take up the mantle of being the Hokage once again. "Kakashi, go round up all the clan heads, and the civilian council. We need to have a meeting." He stated grimly. The one eyed ninja bowed before disappearing into a cloud of white smoke, also known as a shunshin.

* * *

"Sarutobi-Sama, what is the meaning of this?" The lazy drawl of Shikaku Nara questioned, the scarred jonin looking at the aged man. In response the Third Hokage simply lifted up Naruto's head so that everyone could see, and that's when all hell broke loose. The civilians were demanding his head, Danzo was silent through it all even though Sarutobi was sure the old war hawk was trying to think of a way to induct the boy into ROOT, and the clan heads were trying to shut the civilians up.

The elderly man let out a groan of annoyance before releasing a steady stream of KI. He glared at the civilians that stopped him dead in his tracks. "Let me be clear on one thing, and one thing only." He spat out, his gaze hardening, "This boy is a hero, and even though the Yodiame is dead, that does not mean that we have to treat the boy like a disease ridden pup, understand?" Seeing their nods he continued, "Now, the Fourth Hokage picked this boy for a reason, and while I don't know this reason, I trusted him. Who here trusted him as well as me? Shake your heads yes." Seeing them all shake their heads yes, minus Danzo caused the Hokage to smile slightly. "Very good. I know we have suffered losses tonight. I know that we are angry at the Kyuubi tonight. And I know that you all will probably be demanding the boy's head in the years to come, despite this speech. However, if a kunai is sealed up into a scroll, is the scroll now classified as a kunai?" Seeing multiple confused looks on the civilians faces, while some were ashamed the Third Hokage leaned back, holding young Naruto within his arms.

"Sarutobi, "Danzo stated, "We all enjoyed that little speech, but we all also know that the seal the Fourth put onto the boy could be faulty. We need to keep tabs on him at all times, and if worst comes to worst, we can induct him into ROOT."

"No!" The Third Hokage declared vehemently, "We will not be putting the savior of this village into your group to be treated like a damn weapon! He's a human boy, for Kami's sake! Take a look at this, everyone!" He held up Naruto for everyone to see. "What do you see? Do you see a baby boy, or do you see the Kyuubi?" Seeing the civilian side look away now, and only a few clan heads look at Sarutobi, it made his blood boil and made him feel sick to his stomach. He was getting too old for this bullshit. "I may not be able to change your minds, but someday, I know this boy will!" He said as he waved the civilians out. Turning to the clan heads he swallowed and spoke lowly, "I know you all have suffered. I know you all are angry. But will any of you consider adopting the boy? We all know he hails from the Uzumaki clan, the clan that was prominently powerful back in Whirlpool before being wiped out. He's the last of his clan...I'm sure some of you have came close to that." His expression softened, "I cannot express what you all must be feeling, but we have to think of the village, and right now that would be to insure that the boy is kept out of harm's way. So, I ask again, will any of you be willing to adopt the boy? Train him? Shelter?"

The Choji-Ino-Shika trio glanced at each other, before glancing at the Inzuka clan head, Tsume. Shikaku rolled his eyes and rubbed his temples, "This is troublesome. Considering on what my comrades just suggested by merely a glance, I will step up and adopt the boy. The guys and apparently Tsume and I will train him, whether it be from taijutsu, ninjutsu, or genjutsu. Although Tsume, I'm not sure why you want to help?" He looked over at the feral-like woman.

She gave a toothy grin and replied, "That's simple, Shika. I'm helpin' the runt out because one, the whiskers are adorable, two, Kushina was a good friend of mine, and three, he doesn't have a pack. He'll need one later on in life if he is to survive."

"So, the Choji-Ino-Shika trio will help out with Tsume? Anyone else?" The Third asked, looking around. To his surprise, Fugaku Uchiha stood up proudly, puffing out his chest. "You would, Fugaku?"

"Yes. Kushina was a friend of Mokito's for a long time, so long she became like family. While I despise the Kyuubi, I hold no ill towards the boy. I'm sure Itachi will be willing to train Naruto to ensure that he can protect himself." He turned to the other clan heads, and while they didn't always see eye-to-eye, it was one thing to ensure the survival of Konoha even if it meant training Naruto to be the best.

"I thank you all. I know you all are anxious to get home to your families. Go home and rest. Shikaku, I'll send a crib by in the morning. For tonight, young Naruto will stay with me." The Third said firmly, as he got up and started to walk away with the boy in his arms without a word.

In the boys subconscious, the Kyuubi lay in it's cage, his eyes glowing an erie red and orange. He had no hatred for the boy, but he did have hatred for the Uchiha and their damned eyes. The fox let out a growl, making a silent promise to help train the boy as well. If the ignorant fools of the village were to scorn and shun him, then the boy would have to be strong for his sake. He would not have a weak warden, so to speak. While the fox closed it's eyes, it failed to take note of the spectral form of Delsin Rowe who looked around the mindscape before fading away into the recesses of Naruto's mind. The conduit would come out when the time was ready, but for now he had to wait.

_"Well, seems I'll have to stay here for a while. Depending on when that will be." _The voice of Delsin Rowe let out a nervous chuckle at the end of his sentence before vanishing.

* * *

Well, I hope you all have enjoyed this story's intro. I introduce you to Naruto Uzumaki: Konoha's Most Unpredictable Conduit.

-V


	2. Delsin leaves his legacy

And welcome back to Konoha's Most Unpredictable Conduit. I hope you all enjoy.

-V

* * *

Six years had passed since the defeat of the Kyuubi. Six years and the warden that held the greatest of all demons in his stomach had grown up loved by three clan heads, while two others strictly trained the boy. As the Hokage predicted that night all those years ago, the civilians failed to heed his words, scorning the boy and preceding to try to kill the child on numerous attempts despite the connection he had with the clan heads of the shinobi world. And this is where we find the young Uzumaki, currently being chased from a drunken mob. The boy panted, his training from the Inzuka clan coming in handy in terms of his stamina. He was easily on par with Kiba, Tsume's son, whom he considered a brother. He felt his right foot trip over a random bottle and stumble, before he quickly picked himself up off of the ground. He turned into an alley way, making various other turns before abruptly coming to a dead end. "Oh shit." The young boy cursed out before turning around to see the angry faces of the mob. As they started to close in, Naruto held up his arms in front of his face, attempting to brace for impact.

Suddenly a voice spoke out within his mind, '_Oh hell no! No way in hell am I going to allow these fools to pick on a kid like you. Seeing as how I was once a conduit, and I was absorbed into you, you now have all of my smoke powers. '_The voice then quit talking as Naruto saw that his hands were surrounded by smoke and fire embers. Suddenly Naruto proceeded to dash forward in wisps of smoke, reforming a little bit in front of the villagers, as if his body were on autopilot. "What the fuck?" One villager asked.

"What the hell just happened?!" Naruto questioned himself, as the villagers all scurried away, leaving Naruto to stare shellshocked at what his hands were producing. The smoke soon vanished as Naruto's young body collapsed due to the strain it took to unlock his ability. The sound of running feet reached his ears along with the familiar voice of Inu the ANBU calling out his name. Then all faded to black._  
_

Delsin Rowe sat in Naruto's mind with a contemplative look on his face. He knew his time was running out and soon he would disappear into nothingness, merely memories to which Naruto could rely on. He shrugged with one of his grins as he chuckled, "Looks like a hero's work is never done. Reggie, man if you could see me now." He chuckled once more, remembering his brother before the spirit simply vanished back into the back of Naruto's mind, waiting for when he would have to come out.

Inu the ANBU, also known as Kakashi Hatake was leaning against the hospital wall while reading his orange book: Icha Icha Paradise. He was on guard duty for Uzumaki and he wouldn't have it any other way. Hatake was trained under the boy's father, so the one eyed ninja found it fair to make sure that Uzumaki was safe. However, whenever the boy wasn't training with the clan heads, he was being chased by villagers. He frowned underneath his mask before closing his book shut. The boy stirred in his bed, staring up at the ceiling before clenching them shut with a groan. "You're awake." He stated with slight amusement.

"Yeah, but what happened Inu?" Naruto questioned, his six year old mind trying to wrap around what he had seen coming from his finger tips. It was smoke and ember, but why? Was it a bloodline?

"Well as usual when you run off, you get into mischief. Mischief leads to trouble, and trouble lands you here." He chided softly, watching the boy pout. "Now, as for the smoke, I have no idea. I would like to investigate it sometime, if you wish to train?"

"Yes!" Naruto responded quickly. If there was one thing he loved more than Yoshino's cooking, it was training and being able to better himself. While he wasn't a genius like Shikamaru, Naruto was great at observing things and trying to find the best in people. He had a grin that melted the hearts of women and the whisker marks helped.

"Alright then. The doctor said you're able to leave so if you wish we can start training now." Inu said, watching in amusement as the six year old leaped from his bed and proceeded to bounce around.

"Sorry Inu, I can't allow you to do that." A voice spoke from the door. They both turned to see the familiar face of Fugaku staring at them. "It appears Itachi is teaching all of the children something new today. Naruto, follow me please." Naruto waved goodbye to Inu who gave a two fingered wave back before the ANBU vanished in a swirl of leaves.

Making their way to the Uchiha training grounds, Fugaku left Naruto in the presence of his son Itachi who merely smiled in greeting. "Ohaio, Itachi!" Naruto said with a bow. Sasuke walked out upon hearing his father's return and scowled slightly at Naruto, the two had never seen eye-to-eye with each other. Sasuke was jealous at Naruto for receiving training from Itachi.

"Sasuke, go inside. I'm busy," Itachi began, only to hold a hand up at Sasuke's protest. "Now." The younger Uchiha grumbled and left, leaving Itachi with Naruto. "Now Naruto, do you remember where we were last time?"

"Uh...katra control?" Naruto questioned.

"Chakra." Itachi corrected, before holding up a leaf. "But, you're right, we were on chakra control. You are to hold this leaf on your forehead for at least a minute. If you succeed, I'll teach you something new today." Naruto's eyes lit up like a kids' on Christmas as he quickly plucked the leaf out of Itachi's waiting hands. The boy quickly sat down and put the leaf on his forehead, closing his eyes and scrunching up his face in concentration as he tried to muster the chakra. A blue hue enveloped the boy before it quickly changed to one of orange, smoke surrounding the boy. Itachi's eyes widened, "What's this?"

The orange hue faded back to blue, the smoke vanishing in the wind as the boy panted, a victorious grin on his face. "I...did it...sensei." With that the boy simply fell backwards, the strain on his body too much.

_Naruto's Mindscape_

Naruto let out a groan, the sun shining in his eyes. Wait...sun? He snapped them open to reveal him laying face down in the middle of a rooftop building. He rose to his feet as he looked around with a slight sigh. "Where am I?" He muttered to himself. Turning to his right he took note of the giant billboard that held the words _'In loving memory: Reggie Rowe'. _He walked over to the sign, brushing a hand against the sign, "Reggie Rowe?" He questioned. He faintly heard the sound of something _swooshing_ but he paid it no heed.

"Yeah that uh, that'd be my brother." A voice spoke from behind. Naruto whirled around to gaze upon a man who was in his early 20's, a red beanie cap donned on his head, a white jacket underneath a vest, and black jeans complete with skater shoes to complete the look. "He was a tough guy, and he was always lookin' out for me. I tagged this billboard to honor his memory. Anyways, I'm Delsin Rowe, former conduit and hero." The male said, holding out his hand.

Naruto eyed the male suspiciously, before shaking it. "Naruto Uzumaki. Wait, you said former conduit? What's a conduit?"

"Someone with special abilities." Came the reply as Delsin sat down beside Naruto.

"Special? What, you mean like powers?" Seeing Delsin nod, Naruto grinned, "What can you do, Delsin?"

Delsin chuckled, "I _could _manipulate smoke, neon lights, concrete and video like powers. However after a meeting with a conduit I was thrust into your world where I was falling through the air towards this giant nine tailed fox." Seeing Naruto's wide eyes, Delsin rose an eyebrow, "What?"

"You fought THE nine tailed fox?" Naruto asked in awe. "Along with the Fourth Hokage?" At this Delsin gave a hesitant nod, deciding to go with it. "Then what happened?"

"Well...all of a sudden the fox started to dissolve, and with it, was me." Delsin said sadly.

"So why are we here?" Naruto questioned.

"Well, somehow my spirit and power of smoke manipulation managed to make it's way into your bloodstream. So now you have all of my smoke powers, including cinder missiles, sulfur grenades, smoke shots, the ability to transform yourself into smoke and use it to go through vents and stuff." Delsin explained, as Naruto absorbed the information like a sponge. The blonde scrunched up his face in confusion. "What is it, kid?"

"Well you said that you were absorbed into me, right?" Seeing Delsin nod, Naruto continued, "What does that mean? I know I got your powers but what about you? How long will you be here?" Naruto asked.

Delsin shrugged, "I don't know. But while we're here I'm going to give you my memories in terms of the smoke manipulation. Use them well, won't you?" Delsin placed his hand on top of Naruto's head, the memories surging within Naruto's mind. Naruto let out a slight groan of pain, before he took a look at where Delsin was...or had been. The spot Delsin occupied was no vacant. Naruto rose to his feet, taking a look at the billboard one last time.

"I'll put these to good use. For Reggie, and for you, Delsin." Naruto said firmly. Well, as firm as a 6 year old can muster before he left his mindscape, heading out into the world of all the conscious people.

_Exit Naruto's Mindscape_


	3. Using his power

And welcome back to Konoha's Most Unpredictable Conduit. Now, I know in inFAMOUS: Second Son, Delsin's main power was Power Absorption, but I figured to give Naruto smoke, since PA wouldn't really work here. Anyways, have fun with this chapter! ^_^

-V

* * *

Naruto awoke to the sound of people eating dinner. He let out a small groan before rolling to his side..and promptly falling into the floor off of the couch. He muttered a small curse under his breath before heading to the table, where everyone was seated. Ino glanced over and patted a spot next to her, a smile on her face. Naruto sat down with a nod of his head, before he caught Sasuke's glance, "What?" He asked, raising a golden brow.

Sasuke bowed his head before he met the blonde's eyes once more. "You passed out. Apparently you couldn't handle it." He mocked, a sneer on his face. If Naruto took his brother away, then Sasuke would make his life miserable.

"Seems that you're just being a baby for not getting what you want." Naruto retorted quickly, ignoring Sasuke's glare as he finished his meal. "Thank you, Uchiha-san." He bowed and met Shikamaru at the door, the two leaving soon after. Naruto and Shikamaru were walking back towards the Nara compound when they heard the small terrified cries of someone near the Hyuuga compound. "Naruto...don't do it." Shikamaru warned, only for Naruto to start running off. "Troublesome." He grumbled before quickly following. "Naruto!" He hissed out, "You know we don't have weapons!"

The blonde merely glanced at him before squinting his eyes. "Who the hell is that?" He whispered, pointing at the intimidating figure that was dragging a sack over his shoulder. Cries came from the sack and that was all Naruto needed to know. Without realizing it his hands quickly were engulfed in smoke and ember as he charged forward. Shikamaru watched with wide eyes as Naruto literally transformed to smoke and swirled behind the enemy before pushing his arms outward and blasting the man forward with smoke like balls of energy.

"The hell?" The ninja cursed, turning around as he dropped the sack. He quickly drew a kunai and upon seeing his 'attacker' merely let out a guffaw and smirked in dark amusement. "A kid? A kid is going to try to stop me?" He mused on this before he quickly appeared behind Naruto and kicked him into the side of a dumpster watching as the blonde fell onto his face, unmoving. However, before he could extract vengeance on the boy for the cheap move, he quickly found his body unable to move. "The...What is this?" He muttered, eyes wide in anger.

"Shadow Possession Jutsu, a success." Shikamaru drawled out, although the strain was already starting to show. The six year old was panting, trying to hold the jutsu.

"Another runt? Jesus, where do they all come from?" The ninja murmured to himself before a small fist was slammed into his stomach. The strength packed behind it was staggering, especially for a six year old. Then again, this boy had weird abilities given to him from a man not from this world. The ninja quickly went to backhand Naruto, only for him to dash around him as smoke, before the boy quickly slammed a trashcan over the male's head. The ninja swore at himself for getting attacked by a kid and turned to counter, only for a vice like grip to stop him. The ninja turned to see the cold fury within Hiashi Hyuuga's eyes, along with several other members of the Hyuuga clan. "I'm fucked, aren't I?" He squeaked out, only for a kunai to enter his throat. The ninja fell as he gurgled on his own blood.

The person in the sack, Hinata's younger sister eventually found her way out and tackled her father in a hug. "Tou-san!" She cried out, tears streaming down her face.

"It's alright Hanabi. You're safe now." Her father consoled her before turning to Hinata, "Hinata, take Hanabi inside, will you?" The young Hyuuga heiress nodded and led her sister inside. The head of the Hyuuga clan stood up straight and tall, looking down at the two panting boys while Naruto sported a busted lip, who merely gave a grin. Hiashi's mouth twitched before he spoke. "I appreciate your bravery, Uzumaki and Nara-san. We will not forget this and if you ever need anything, merely ask and I will try to help." With that the Hyuuga watched as the two boys started to leave, only for Naruto to turn back and give a bloody grin and a thumbs up. Hiashi waved slightly, watching the two boys go 'round the corner and leave. He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, "Who is the ninja?"

"He's from Kumo, sir." A Hyuuga replied.

"Son of a bitch." The Hyuuga head cursed out. "This is as Nara-san quotes 'troublesome'."

Shikamaru turned to look at his adopted brother, concern on his face, "Are you okay?" He asked. Naruto merely nodded, deciding to stay silent. "Naruto...the hell was that back there? The smoke? Was it a jutsu? Or a bloodline?" Naruto merely gave him a glance as Shikamaru's eyebrows furrowed in irritation. "Naruto! Answer me damn it!"

"I don't know." Naruto replied tiredly. "Let's just call it a special ability, alright?" He said as they trudged on home. Entering the house they were met with an upset Yoshino who only became more upset at Naruto and Shikamaru's condition.

"What happened?" She asked upon treating them for wounds.

"Someone was attempting to kidnap Hanabi Hyuuga and numbskull over here decided to rush in like an idiot. I had to help, making sure he wouldn't get killed." Shikamaru said with his ever lazy drawl, eyes on his mother.

Naruto didn't say anything, his eyes downcast. He had upset his kaa-san, and he didn't like that. Yoshino tilted his head up, kissed his forehead and dabbed at some blood, ignoring Naruto's hiss of pain. "I'm glad you're alright Naruto. But next time, don't do something so foolish without more training. You could have been killed. And what's worse, you brought Shikamaru in danger, as well as yourself. I couldn't stand to lose either of you." She said, worry in her eyes. Naruto said nothing as he merely gave her a tight hug, his small arms wrapped around her waist. "Now go on, bed. The both of you." The two made their way upstairs, as she let out a sigh. "Minato, Kushina, you two owe me for this. I'll be gray haired before I reach 39." She muttered to herself.

Laying down Shikamaru spoke up, "Naruto?" Receiving a grunt in reply Shikamaru continued, "Your smoke trick...What else can you do?"

"I dunno to be honest. I just acted on instinct." Naruto admitted.

"Well, you're going to learn to have to control it, otherwise your ability may get you or someone else killed." He said with a yawn.

"Yeah, I know Shika. I'm off to sleep, g'night." With that Naruto turned out his light and crawled into bed, burrowing under the covers.

"G'night, knucklehead." He muttered, the lazy Nara settling into sleep himself.

Delsin Rowe stared up at the image of the billboard of Reggie, a small smile on his face. "I'll help train the kid, Reggie. I'll help him control the powers, and ensure that he will be known for it. I'll make you proud brother. I promise." Soon the spirit simply faded away, awaiting for Naruto's next visit to his mind.

* * *

Well, what do you all think of this chapter? I hope you all review!

-V


	4. Team Introductions

And welcome back to Konoha's Most Unpredictable Conduit. Have fun with this chapter! ^_^

-V

* * *

"Get back here, Uzumaki!" An ANBU called out, quickly gaining on the young blonde. The ten year old in question merely barked out a laugh before disappearing into a cloud of smoke and ember, said cloud turning a corner. When the ANBU turned, they saw no trace of the jinjuriki with smoke powers. "Damn it! This is the 3rd time he escaped after tagging a random wall!" The ANBU wearing a Cat mask let out a sigh, before turning to Eagle, "Eagle, what did he make this time?"

"The damn brat painted Inu reading his damn book." Eagle growled out, causing the ANBU in question to let out an amused chuckle. "I don't see how you can stand that little shit."

Inu merely lowered his book to gaze at his teammate before speaking, "Well it's quite simple. Me and him are friends and we train often. He's like me, in a way."

"And in what way is that, praytell?" Eagle's voice was laced with a heavy dose of sarcasm.

"Being very punctual." Inu said with an eyesmile, causing his teammates to faceplant. "Seeing as how it is 9 at night, I'm off to sleep." With that in mind Inu disappeared via Shunshin and re-appeared beside Naruto who was peeking out from behind a corner a few buildings away. "So, smokey..." He started off, causing Naruto to freeze before the blonde turned to him with a shocked look, "It seems that someone painted my visage. Do you know who that would be?" He narrowed his eye, a smirk underneath his mask as he watched the boy fidget. Seeing Naruto nod, Inu continued, "Well, since you don't know, I suppose I'll have to let you go. But do not get caught again-" He was cut off by Naruto hugging him tightly around the waist before vanishing once more into smoke and embers. Inu chuckled and started to walk off, his book in hand, perverted giggles escaping his lips every so often.

* * *

_Graduation Day: 6 years later._

Naruto absentmindedly gazed about the classroom, scanning the potential genin that interested him. There was of course himself, Ino Yamanaka who hadn't changed much except for her crushing on him _and _Sasuke. She couldn't really choose between the two and had a difficult time when forced to do so. Speaking of Sasuke Uchiha, the boy was the last two out of three survivors from the Uchiha Massacre: An event in which Itachi managed to kill most of the Uchiha clan, save Sasuke and his mother for Mikoto had nothing to do with the coup and Sasuke was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Over the years Sasuke had went from a normal loving kid to a brooding, egotistical, overconfident bastard who was focused on power and restoring his clan. While Itachi told him that hatred was the only way to defeat him, Mikoto told him otherwise, telling the youngest Uchiha to rely on his friends. So Sasuke had done that, before he decided to push the others away soon after entering the academy, only training with Naruto and Shikamaru on occasion.

Naruto's eyes darted over to the remaining potential genin. Choji Akamichi, the portly boy who was almost always stuffing his face with some type of food to deal with the calories he burned through when training. He used his family jutsu to increase his body mass and become a force to be reckoned with. A yawn caused Naruto to focus momentarily on his brother, Shikamaru Nara. The lazy genius who preferred to watch clouds and play Shogi and Go! rather than train (which Naruto found absurd), had always watched out for Naruto and tried to keep him out of trouble. The last three classmates that actually interested Naruto were Shino Aburame, Kiba Inuzuka, and Hinata Hyuuga. Shino was reserved and quite, only speaking when needed to and was usually avoided by most of the class due to his clan using their bodies as living hives. Naruto sympathized with the boy due to him holding the spirit of a deceased super hero but he rarely talked to Shino, due to the latter being very blunt or having to do something else.

Kiba Inuzuka was a rash, cocky boy whom Naruto had the pleasure of knowing. The two shared a rivalry, mainly consisting of Kiba trying to beat Naruto into the ground and boast that he and his dog partner Akamaru were better than he, even though Naruto ranked second in the class, only under Sasuke. Naruto had never revealed his smoke like abilities to anyone besides Shikamaru, and even then that was a one time deal. The boy had been training in secret to ensure that he had an advantage over some. Lastly there was Hinata Hyuuga, the heiress to the Hyuuga clan and sister to Hanabi Hyuuga. She had been trained under her father and various others since the night Naruto saved Hanabi from the Kumo invader. She had dedicated herself to ensure that she wouldn't be weak in her father's eyes, and that she would live up to the title of clan heir.

He rubbed his nose slightly before hearing the last words from his teacher, Iruka, "-ruto. Naruto!" Seeing him snap to attention Iruka let out a sigh, "Come on. It's time for your test." Naruto got up without a word, an air of confidence surrounding him. He ignored the fangirlish murmurs of how dreamy he was, the arrogant 'hn' from Sasuke, and the chatter from the rest. Walking up he let out a slight yawn, while Iruka looked at him with a stern gaze, "Alright Naruto. You need to perfectly preform the substitution technique, the henge and the clone technique." Naruto stiffened a moment about the clone technique before relaxing slightly. He would have to thank Inu later for teaching him the technique of the misu bunshin. It was like a simple bunshin, but it was made out of water, was solid until 'killed' and could transfer memories. Naruto quickly substituted himself with Ino who let out a slight squeal before glaring at the blonde. "Substitution is good. Now...henge into Shikamaru." Naruto disappeared into a cloud of smoke before it revealed an exact copy of the boy with pineapple shaped hair, both of them letting out a 'troublesome' at the same time. "Alright. Now, make a clone of yourself and you pass." Iruka said, ignoring the chuckling of the class. Naruto smirked and tried to subtly preform the sign for the misu bunshin, before an exact replica of Naruto appeared beside the original.

The classroom had varied thoughts. _'A solid clone? How did he do that?'_

_'Troublesome...only he would be able to do something like this under our noses.'_

_'What? Naru-kun can produce SOLID clones? Maybe he is better than Sasuke-kun.'_

_'Pft, just luck. Me and Akamaru could do that with our eyes closed!'_

_'N..Naruto.'_

_'Sasuke-kun is WAY better than Naruto! CHA!' _

_'Munch munch. I wonder if that clone can out-eat the original?'_

_'Uzumaki-san has solid clones? Interesting.' _

Iruka blinked in amazement before the clone disappeared with a mock salute before Iruka spoke. "You pass, Naruto. You pass." He grinned, knowing the hard work the boy put into his training, and luckily it had paid off. Naruto walked up without a word, only a simple smirk on his face as he picked up his black hitai-ate, before tying it around his left arm and sitting down. "Congratulations to all of you that passed! As of today, I'm no longer your sensei, but your equal! Tomorrow you all are to come back and meet with your sensei's and begin your trip as genin. You all have made me proud, and I hope you all continue to service the Leaf with your skills."

* * *

The Hokage glanced into his crystal ball before snapping his eyes to the three jonin in front of him. His son Asuma Sarutobi was smoking on a cancer stick, while looking at his father. The two didn't exactly have the best relationship, especially when Asuma left to go join the Twelve Fire Guardians. Next to him was the genjutsu mistress or 'Ice Queen' of Konoha, Kurenai Yuhi who rose her nose up in disgust at the cancer stick. Her red ruby eyes glanced at him for a moment before gazing back at the Hokage. Lastly was Kakashi Hatake who had given up on his ANBU duties a little bit after the Uchiha massacre, still looking out for Naruto while he could. He was lazily reading his orange perverted book known as Icha Icha Paradise, awaiting instructions.

"So out of the 27 genin that passed, only nine will be truly passed and be taken under your wings. Asuma, who would you like to have on your team?" The Hokage asked, gazing at his son.

Asuma stumped out his cigarette and flicked it out the window before turning to his father, his gaze hardening. "Well Hokage-sama, I would like the Ino-Shika-Choji trio." Seeing the Hokage nod, Asuma smirked.

"Kakashi, you're in charge of Sasuke Uchiha, Naruto Uzumaki and Sakura Haruno. The council probably wants you to focus on Sasuke more due to the Sharingan, but I swear if you do show ANY amount of favoritism, you will no longer be a ninja. Understand?" The Hokage explained, seeing Kakashi nod with his one eye slightly wider than usual. Poor guy was shocked. "Kurenai, that leaves you with Kiba Inuzua, Hinata Hyuuga and Shino Aburame. Hopefully you can do well with a tracking unit. Now if that is all, you all may be dismissed except Kakashi." Kakashi clasped his book shut and pocketed it, knowing the Hokage meant business. "Naruto...how is the boy doing?"

"He's learning to control his ability more and more everyday. He's managed to create exploding Kage Bunshin and implement his powers in a fight. He's full of surprises and he reminds me of sensei every time I see the gaki." Seeing the Hokage motion to continue, Kakashi sighed behind his mask. "Within battle, he seems to struggle with himself in terms of subduing or killing the enemy. It's like the good half and evil half are battling for dominance, and I hope that the good side wins, for all our sake's. The fox hasn't spoke to the boy yet, but knowing Naruto it will in an attempt to either break free, or if he's in a life or death situation."

"Very well. You're dismissed. And Kakashi?" Seeing the jonin pause, the Hokage smiled widely, "Do not be late. Be on time, otherwise I'm sure Naruto will make you pay. We all know how his pranks go." Seeing Kakashi pale slightly then nod and disappear via shunshin, Sarutobi chuckled and leaned back into his chair. He lit his pipe, chewing on the end as he exhaled the smoke, "That went easier than expected." He mused.

The next day the whole academy was abuzz with chatter, the eager genin wondering who would be on their team and vice versa. Naruto was sitting in the back next to Shikamaru and Choji, the two Nara's sleeping and the Akamichi eating. Well Naruto wasn't really sleeping, but it was better than having to listen to everyone and their chatter. He had found out about his jailer last night thanks to Mizuki and the boy promptly responded by sending the male straight to Ibiki.

_Start Flashback_

_Naruto was currently eating ramen at Ichiraku before the wave of the flaps brought his attention to the newcomer. He turned and glanced behind him, "Hello there Mizuki-sensei." _

_"Hello there Naruto. Mind if I sit down?" Seeing a motion to do so, the chunin sat down and a mask of sadness was placed upon his face. "Naruto I have some bad news." The blonde stopped eating his noodles much to Mizuki's delight before the gray haired man continued, "It seems that we cannot pass you due to some reports we've gotten about you misbehaving and possibly cheating on the test." _

_Naruto narrowed his eyes slightly, sniffing out the lie but managed to put on a desperate facade. "What? That's not right! I passed...didn't I?" Seeing Mizuki nod, Naruto looked crestfallen._

_"However, there is a way I can pass you. Do you wish to have a make-up test?" Naruto nodded eagerly to which Mizuki gave a dark grin, although Naruto 'took' it as one of trust. "Good. All you have to do is go to the Hokage's tower and find the largest scroll you can find. Think you can do that and meet me in the forest west of here in about two hours?" Seeing him nod and rush off, Mizuki left the ramen stand with a single thought in mind. 'Soon the demon will be dead and the Forbidden Scroll will be mine.'_

_Naruto arrived at the Hokage's tower, sneaking in through the window only to see the Third Hokage staring at him from his desk. "What is it Naruto?" The Third asked kindly._

_"It's Mizuki. He claimed I failed my genin test and has offered me a 'make-up' test." Naruto explained, using his fingers to make quotation marks around make-up. The Third motioned for him to continue, "He said all I had to do was come here, steal the largest scroll I could find and meet him in the forest west of here in two hours." The Hokage's face hardened, growing serious._

_"Are you referring to the Forbidden Scroll?" He asked, inhaling sharply.  
_

_"Most likely." Naruto answered with a shrug. "What do we do?" _

_The Third got up and walked over to his archive of scrolls, going deep into the catacombs to unlock a safe and coming back with said Forbidden Scroll. "That is simple Naruto. We give it to him." He tossed the scroll to Naruto who caught it with an incredulous look on his face. "Do you not see what I'm doing? I'm giving you a 'make-up' test of my own. If you can lure him in and incapacitate him enough for Ibiki to interrogate him, it will prove to me and most of the ninja that you have a right to wear that headband." Naruto's shocked look turned into one of determination and gratitude. He bowed in a rare show of respect before he darted out the window, heading towards the west forest. The Hokage let out a grim smile as he chewed on his pipe. "Let's see how you fare, Naruto. Knowing you and your abilities, you should be able to handle someone as weak as Mizuki." _

_Naruto arrived after a few minutes of travel as curiosity got the better of him. He opened the scroll as his eyes scanned over the contents. Seeing a few techniques of interest, the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu and Bunshin Daibakuha (Clone Great Explosion) Naruto proceeded to copy the hand-signs onto a piece of parchment. "Hopefully you won't mind, old man." He muttered as he began to practice on the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. He grinned to himself mischievously as he chuckled, "Mizuki's going to have a big surprise waiting for him." _

_Two hours later Mizuki landed in the clearing to see Naruto panting as he let out a breath. "Ohayo Mizuki. I got the scroll you wanted." _

_"That's good Naruto." Mizuki said absentmindedly, pulling out a giant fuma shuriken. He made the blades extend as he twirled it within his grasp. "Do you wish to know why the villagers hate you?" He rose an eyebrow, seeing Naruto freeze slightly. He smirked and continued, "The reason you are hated is because fourteen years ago the Kyuubi no Kitsune was sealed within a baby boy before taking over. You were that boy, and in essence you are the Kyuubi no Kitsune. How does it feel to know that you caused the deaths of thousands of Leaf shinobi?" _

_Naruto grinned as he shrugged, "Feels pretty great to know that I now have a reason to kick your smug ass." With that being said, the scroll laying beside Naruto disappeared into a plume of smoke to reveal another clone. _

_"The hell? Where's the scroll you little shit?" Mizuki narrowed his eyes. _

_"No where near your grubby hands." Naruto replied as the clone grinned at him. Mizuki had enough before he threw the shuriken and charged, throwing several kunai as well. The clone and the original merely dodged over the weapons before Naruto appeared behind him as he reformed. Mizuki turned and left his attention from the clone, engaging Naruto in hand-to-hand combat. _

_"You think you can defeat me, demon? I'm a chunin and you're a weak little genin!" Mizuki roared as he countered Naruto's attack before kicking the blonde towards a tree. He impacted into it and slid down with a grin, ignoring the pain. "What's so funny?" He demanded. Naruto formed the ram handseal as Mizuki turned to see the glowing clone. "Oh you little mother-" He was cut off as the explosion sent him flying. He got to his feet, struggling somewhat. The size of the explosion was impressive, even if it was a single clone. His eyes darted around him, trying to track the blonde. _

_"Looking for me?" Naruto asked behind him. Mizuki whirled around only to be sent flying back with a cinder blast. He landed with a cough, feeling blood fill his mouth. He spat it out and attempted to get up only for ANBU to surround him. _

_"Good job, kid." Eagle commented, nodding to the boy in approval. "We'll take it from here." He replied before the ANBU disappeared, Mizuki in tow. Naruto merely let out a chuckle and disappeared in a plume of smoke, revealing itself to be a clone._

* * *

_"Good job Naruto." The Hokage praised as he ruffled his surrogate grandson's hair. Naruto just gave a toothy grin before shrugging. "As you have proved to me and to the other various ninja in the Leaf, you are worthy of that headband and title of genin. Make me proud and continue to carry the Will of Fire." He reached into his drawer and pulled out a bag of ryo, "Consider this a gift from me for a good job done." _

_Naruto looked at the bag before pocketing it after a moment's pause. He bowed once more to the Hokage and disappeared, his smokey like form exiting through the window. The Hokage chuckled and went back to his paperwork, pride swelling at the blonde._

_End Flashback_

Iruka entered and upon seeing the state his classroom was in, a vein protruded on his forehead before he preformed his 'big scary head no jutsu' and immediately silenced the brats with a loud inhaled, "SHUT UP!" Straightening he cleared his throat, "Now that we're done with that I will like to formally introduce you all as teams. Team Seven will consist of Sakura Haruno, Sasuke Uchiha-" He was cut off by Sakura declaring Ino as the loser and that she and Sasuke were destined to be, her squeals and victory cries being heard all the way through other dimensions; a man by the name of Zeke Dunbar coughed and started choking on his drink, wondering what the hell the sound was. "And the last member is Naruto Uzumaki Nara with their jounin sensei being Kakashi Hatake." Sakura's musings were cut short as she heard the last name, slumping down into her seat with a defeated sigh. "Team Eight will consist of Kiba Inuzuka, Shino Aburame, and Hinata Hyuuga with their jounin sensei being Kurenai Yuuhi. Team Nine is still in circulation from last season, so that merely leaves Team Ten. This team will consist of Shikamaru Nara, Choji Akimichi, and Ino Yamanaka and Asuma Sarutobi as their jounin sensei. It has been an honor teaching you all and I hope you will bring the Leaf to new heights."

"So Naruto," Shikamaru drawled out beside him, "where were you last night? Kaa-san was up until midnight worrying about you until you finally showed. What gives, otouto?" Seeing Naruto give him a pointed glare, Shikamaru merely rolled his eyes, "You know I'm not giving up until you cave. So what happened?"

Naruto was saved by the timely intervention of Asuma showing up. "Team Ten?" He called out, a cigarette in his mouth. Shikamaru gave Naruto a look that said 'We'll talk later' before heading down with Ino and Choji. The three left, leaving six left. Naruto merely leaned back into his chair and closed his eyes. Soon he was dozing off, not noticing when Kurenai had taken her team, leaving only Sasuke, Sakura and he in the room.

"Where is he?" Sakura asked for the up-tenth time in the last 30 minutes. She was beginning to grow irritated at their new sensei and the only thing keeping her calm was looking, no, staring obsessively at Sasuke with a faint blush on her cheeks.

"Forget about it, Sakura. He'll be here soon." Naruto replied easily, as he got up and stretched. He could sense Kakashi's chakra signature outside of the door but he ignored it as he took a pencil and began to throw it up into the air, catching it as it descended.

"Whatever, baka." She huffed, crossing her arms. She was still in her fan-girlish ways and thought that her Sasuke was _the best _at everything and his brooding attitude made her miss the fact that he gave his fan-girls absolutely _zero _attention. It flew over her head. Naruto often wondered if Sakura was a blonde that had accidentally permanently dyed her hair pink._  
_

Sasuke glanced at his two teammates and only gave Naruto the time of day in terms of socializing. The rest were beneath him, and Naruto was his equal in terms of everything; a perfect rival and someone to challenge and push himself to greater extent so he could growl stronger and kill Itachi. His eyes darkened as the thought of his brother filled his head before he forcibly pushed it back, all three turning to the door as it slid open.

A man wearing a headband over his left eye, a mask over the rest of his face walked into the room. He was wearing the standard jounin outfit: a green flak vest, a shirt underneath it, black pants and sandals. His eye quickly gazed up from behind his orange book labeled Icha Icha Paradise as he watched his 'genin'. Naruto caught sight of his gray gravity defying hair and recognition filled Naruto's eyes, only for Kakashi to give a small eye-smile in return. This was only caught by Naruto before the man spoke. "My first impression of you is...you're all pathetic." This caused Sakura and Sasuke to faceplant, and only for Naruto to stumble slightly in his step down the stairs. "Meet me on the roof in five minutes if you wish to actually have me consider you being my genin." With that he disappeared in a cloud of smoke, shunshining to the roof. Naruto smirked and dashed out the window without the other two noticing, leaving them to climb the steps. Re-appearing on said roof, Kakashi leaned against the railing and gave a small wave. "Ah Naruto. How've you been?" Kakashi started off.

"If I had known you were going to be my sensei, I would have trained even harder." Naruto replied with a grin. He was quickly embraced in a hug by Kakashi before having a noogie rained down upon him. "Oi! Cut that out!" He grumbled as he broke away from him, the grin never leaving his face. Kakashi matched it with his eye, before the other two joined them.

"Naruto! How did you get up here so fast?" Sakura demanded.

"I walked." Came the reply.

"But you weren't behind us."

"Who said I walked using the stairs?"

"So what? You walked climbing the wall?" Sasuke asked with a snort.

"Yup!" Naruto lied, his arms behind his head as he grinned. The looks on their faces were priceless. Sakura was in disbelief and Sasuke looked as if he was ready to shit bricks.

"That's enough you three. We should probably start with introductions yeah? Your name, likes, dislikes, hobbies, and dreams." Kakashi stated, as he read his book.

"Um..sensei? Can you go first?" Sakura asked timidly. However before Kakashi could reply, Naruto beat her to it.

"Honestly Sakura, it's not that hard. Thought you were supposed to be smart." Naruto said before he cleared his throat, "Name's Naruto Uzumaki Nara, my likes include training, shogi, GO!, sleeping and writing. My dislikes are people who don't give others a chance, bullies who pick on others due to something they have no control over, rapists, molesters and people who harm children. My hobbies include creating new jutsu, new taijutsu stances, bettering myself at what I do and painting-"

"Tagging." Kakashi corrected, giving Naruto a deadpan.

"Okay, tagging." Naruto admitted as he scratched his left cheek with a grin. "And I suppose my dream is to protect my loved ones and ensure that I'm seen as an equal, and not an outcast or a freak." Kakashi nodded his approval while the other two glanced at him somewhat curiously.

"Okay you're up next pinky." Kakashi stated.

"My name is Sakura Haruno. I like," She paused and gave an unusually shrill giggle that involved her staring at Sasuke, "my dislikes are Ino-pig, people who insult others on their intelligence," She shot a glare at Naruto who ignored it, "and rude people. My dream is to marry someone," She cackled this time while staring at Sasuke, causing the male to edge away with a weary face.

Kakashi gave her a deadpanned look while giving a mental groan. Of course he had to have a fan girl. Why wouldn't he? He shook his head and pointed to Sasuke.

"Name's Sasuke Uchiha. My likes include training and getting stronger. My dislikes are people who focus on romance instead of training." Sasuke's meaning was over the head of Sakura, who was giggling while Sasuke looked at her while saying this. "My dream...well, my destiny is to restore my clan and to honor my family by killing the man that had a part in their downfall." Sakura viewed Sasuke as some shining knight ontop of a horse, while Naruto suppressed a snort and Kakashi sighed.

"Right...Well tomorrow you are to meet me at Training Ground 7 and then our real test will begin." Kakashi was about to be interrupted by Sakura only for him to hold up a hand, "I guess Iruka-san forgot to mention that only a few teams pass. 27 to be exact in terms of actual genin. You are to meet me at Training Ground 7 tomorrow at 8 o'clock sharp and then I will test you. Oh, and you may not want to eat lunch because you may vomit." He gave a small wave and disappeared in a cloud of leaves, leaving the three to go their separate ways. Well, Naruto and Sasuke did, and Sakura stalked-..followed Sasuke around like a lost puppy.

* * *

Well what did you all think of this chapter? I hope you all enjoyed.

-V


	5. C-rank mission begins

And welcome back to Konoha's Most Unpredictable Conduit. Have fun with this chapter! ^_^

-V

* * *

6:30 is what Naruto's alarm clock read as he blearily opened his eyes. He blinked before getting up sluggishly and getting ready for his genin test. Shikamaru was still sleeping peacefully beside him, and if he couldn't sleep, then neither could his brother. He grinned evilly before producing a bucket of water and pouring it over Shikamaru who awoke with a sputter and a glare. If looks could kill, Naruto would be six feet under at least 10,000 times by now. Or 10,001. Naruto gave a cheeky grin while ignoring Shikamaru's death mutters as he hopped into the shower.

Exiting and feeling quite refreshed, the fourteen year old teenager quickly got on his boxers, black torn up jeans with his belt, his blood red t-shirt before throwing on his white jacket and zipping it up, throwing on his black denim vest on top of it. He knew that Delsin wore a red beanie, but he didn't want to copy the man in all aspects, so he optimized to leaving the beanie untouched. He tied his headband around his left arm and put on his shoes before he quickly bounded down the stairs, ignoring his father's 'troublesome loud brat' and his mother's humming. He quickly kissed her on the cheek and gave a grin, grabbing an apple and rushing out the door. He quickly arrived at Training Ground 7, nodding to Sasuke who nodded back, and offering a small wave to Sakura who merely ignored him. However, upon seeing the apple, the pinkette decided to berate him, "You baka! What are you doing? Kakashi-sensei said not to eat!"

"Yeah, like I'm going to listen to him." Naruto replied as he took a bite out of said apple. He munched on it as he grinned, "I didn't want to be hungry and lose strength during this test. I think that in itself was a small test, seeing if you would disobey Kakashi's orders. I failed. Whoops." He quickly finished the apple and threw the core away before he started to stretch.

"But why would Kakashi-sensei tell us not to eat?" Sakura asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Uzumaki just said it, Sakura. So we wouldn't be on our a-game and be hindered. It's obvious." Sasuke said to which Sakura immediately agreed, much to the boys' annoyances. 30 minutes had passed, all three falling into a somewhat comfortable silence. "Where is he?" Sasuke asked, eyebrow twitching. The other two shrugged in response.

A swirl of leaves alerted them to Kakashi's presence, the jounin offering a small two-fingered wave, his other hand occupied with Icha Icha. "Yo." He stated cheerfully, an eye-smile included.

"You're late!" Sakura seethed, pointing an accusing finger at Kakashi.

"I was headed here but Naruto's mother needed help with some groceries so I did my jounin duty and helped her out." Kakashi responded, his eye-smile growing bigger if possible. He opened his eye to see Sakura faceplanting on the ground, Sasuke raising an eyebrow and Naruto merely giving him a 'bullshit' look. He sweat-dropped somewhat before he straightened and produced an alarm clock and two bells from out of nowhere. "Alright, you have until noon to try to obtain these bells from me. If you fail, you'll be sent back to the academy." He explained, setting the alarm clock on a post and tying the bells onto his waist.

"But there are only two bells." Sakura observed.

"Correct, and that means one of us will have to return to the academy." Sasuke said, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

Naruto remained quiet, squinting at Kakashi as he began to think. '_Two bells? One of us going back? No, this doesn't add up. I've never seen or heard of a three-man squad in all of Konoha history...This is obviously part of the test. Which means the real test is about what, teamwork?' _His eyes widened slightly before a grin spread across his face.

_'Seems Naruto figured it out. Leave it to a Nara to train the boy in observing and using his smarts.' _Kakashi thought with slight pride before he started the timer. "You all have until noon, as I've said before. GO!" Immediately two of his potential genin left the area, Sasuke and Sakura darting into the bushes and treeline respectively. He sweatdropped against his last student, gazing at the blonde with a critical eye. "Uh...Naruto. The test has started." The blonde merely gave a foxy grin before giving him a thumbs up and disappearing in a cloud of smoke. His eye widened as he murmured, "Now when did you have time to create a shadow clone and replace yourself with it? Or did you plan this out ever since you woke up?" He merely shrugged and rushed off to find his students.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes, watching the clone disappear. "So where is Uzumaki?" He murmured before drawing a kunai and flinging it into the bush. However the kunai merely went up into the air, deflected by Kakashi's. Sasuke grinned as he rushed the teacher, jumping up and planting a roundhouse kick on Kakashi's arm who blocked, the jounin surprised at the strength the Uchiha had. He aimed a downward elbow strike towards Kakashi, not surprised when the jounin dodged. The two jumped back as Sasuke went through handseals before inhaling, "Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" The fireball was impressive for Sasuke's age and Kakashi took note of this as he jumped out of the way before disappearing. "Where the hell did he go?" He growled out, looking around. "Up, left, right, behind...below!" He jumped out of the way just before a hand erupted from the ground.

"Very good Sasuke. However, that won't stop you from losing. Cockiness and arrogance is overrated." Kakashi lectured from behind him, causing Sasuke to turn around in surprise. Another hand grabbed Sasuke's ankle and drug him downwards, until only his head remained. "Earth Style: Decapitation no Jutsu a success." Sasuke glowered at him causing Kakashi to eye-smile before disappearing in a swirl of leaves. "One down. Two to go." While Kakashi left to find Sakura, Sasuke's eyes were darting back and forth as he struggled in vain to release himself. Naruto emerged from the bushes to the right, a smirk on his face.

"Need some help Sasuke?" Naruto asked, his smirk growing into a grin.

"As if I'd need help from you, Uzumaki." Sasuke said, a smirk on his face. He still considered the blonde a friend and family, but he wouldn't ever admit that.

"Take the stick out of your ass, will ya?" Naruto murmured as he dug his friend out. "Now, I have a plan." Seeing Sasuke's perplexed look Naruto continued, "This is about teamwork. We can't take him down by ourselves and Sakura will need our help. How about we go find her and formulate a plan? I'll be the distraction while you go in with taijutsu and Sakura grabs the bells?"

"Hm. I don't think that'll work." Sasuke frowned as he rubbed his chin. "Me and Sakura will be the distraction and you can get the bells, since you're the sneakiest out of all of us." Naruto had the decency to blush and grin at that. "Come on, let's go dobe." While Naruto was no where near dead last, Sasuke had called him that out of respect, Naruto being nearly the only one who could keep up with the Uchiha.

"Sure thing, teme." Naruto replied with a grin as the two rushed off to find Sakura.

Kakashi tsked and looked down at the unconscious genin before his eye widened in surprise, the Sakura before him disappearing in a cloud of smoke. "You've got to be kidding me." He muttered, deflecting kunai from either side before he jumped into the clearing, the three students jumping before him. "So Naruto, when did you manage to replace Sakura with a clone under a henge?"

The blonde chuckled, "A magician never reveals his secrets. Now, I think you have some bells to give up." He declared, pointing at their sensei.

"The dobe's right." Sasuke agreed, while Sakura merely nodded.

"If you want them. Come and get them." Kakashi said simply, narrowing his eye at the genin. Naruto exchanged glances at his two comrades before he nodded. The three rushed Kakashi, all trying to snatch the bells while keeping him distracted. Kakashi narrowed his eye, knowing the three were up to something. It was too easy, they weren't putting much effort into it. But why? His question was soon answered as multiple copies of the three surrounded him, striking him from various directions. His eye widened, realizing their plan. The clones were a decoy to distract him, while one of them managed to get the bells. He quickly heard the faint tinkling of bells and the sudden lack of weight around his waist as he turned to see Naruto tossing each of the bells to his teammates, the clones disappearing. He blinked rapidly before giving an eye-grin, the bell going off a few minutes later. "Well, it seems you have managed to grab the bells. But which one of you is going back to the academy?"

"None of us, sensei!" Sakura piped up, a grin on her face.

"For if you wish to send one of us back." Naruto continued.

"You'll have to send all of us back." Sasuke replied, a smirk on his face. "The point of this test was teamwork, as Naruto pointed out while digging me out. We utilized teamwork in an effort to take the bells from you and we succeeded. Besides, Konoha has never had a three-man squad before, so why start now?"

"Well, it seems like you got me. We're now officially Team 7!" Kakashi congratulated with another eye-smile. He produced a camera and a clone who took said camera. He walked up behind his genin, ruffling Sasuke's and Naruto's hair, the blonde giving a peace sign while Sakura was in the middle, sticking out her tongue in a goofy fashion. The picture was developed and copies were made, the members of Team 7 going to remember the day until they died. "Now, all of the other jounin agreed to meet at the Akimichi barbecue if they passed their teams, so that's where we're going, my treat." His team merely nodded as Naruto's stomach let out a small growl that was quickly drowned out by Sasuke's and Sakura's larger growls. The two had the decency to blush before the three hurried to the restaurant, allowing Kakashi to chuckle and shunshin there.

"Hey Shikamaru, what's up?" Naruto called out, causing his brother to look at him and away from his conversation with Kakashi. He slid in between Hinata and Ino, both of whom were delighted but Hinata even more so, sporting a blush so red that it would put a tomato to shame. "Ohayo Hinata, Ino!" He waved, giving a grin. Hinata stuttered out a hello while Ino giggled and blushed behind her hand at her antics. "Uh, Hinata, you okay?" He snapped his fingers in front of her face, causing her to promptly faint. "Eh?! Hinata! Hinata! Oh wake up!" He quickly waved his hands in front of her, trying to cool her down. He slumped down hopelessly while Shino carried the Hyuuga home, Kiba and Akamaru promising death threats. "I give up." He muffled out, his head buried against his arms.

"Oh c'mon Naruto, it wasn't that bad." Choji comforted his friend while eating all the barbecue his hands could grab. Seeing Shikamaru's deadpan along with Sakura's Choji shrugged.

Naruto raised his head to see Ino staring at him. He blinked, motioning to her. "Hm, what?" She asked, snapping out of her trance.

"Do I got somethin' on my face? You're staring at me." He said pointedly, looking at her.

"Oh nothing Naruto!" She said a bit too quickly, causing Naruto to frantically search his face. "No Naruto, you don't have anything. I'm just enjoying all of our friends being here." She lied, a faint blush spreading across her face. Naruto squinted at her a moment before shrugging. "So how'd your team test go?" She asked, trying to start a conversation.

"It went okay. We had to take two bells away from Kakashi-sensei before noon. Luckily with teamwork, we got it just in the nick of time." He puffed out his chest proudly as he went to claim bragging rights, "I was the one that came up with the plan. Sasuke and Sakura just went along with it."

"I'm pretty sure it was the other way around, Naruto." Sakura deadpanned, causing Naruto to deflate slightly.

"Ah, let the gaki have the limelight for once." Asuma said as he chewed on his cigarette, leaving it unlit for Kurenai's sake. Naruto leaned in close to the two, squinting his eyes. "What is it, runt?" He grunted out.

Naruto let out a lecherous grin cross his face as he chuckled, "Oh nothing smoky. Just noting that you and red over there are quite close just for friends." His chuckle turned into a cackle before that morphed into a girly scream of terror, "Please don't harm me Kurenai-sensei! I'm sorry!" He put his hands up in front of his face as if to ward off an attack. He cracked open an eye to view everyone giving him amused and worried expressions.

"Are you alright, Naruto?" Kakashi asked after a moment, his eye crinkling up in amusement.

"Oh yeah, peachy. Just thought I was going to be subjected to her genjutsu's." Naruto grumbled.

"That can still happen." Kurenai pointed out with a mild glare that caused Naruto to quickly cower and hide behind Ino who let out a squeal at being used as a human shield, but a blush still graced her cheeks. "I'm just kidding Naruto, relax."

* * *

"Alright Team 7, who's ready for another day of D-rank missions?" Kakashi said with an evil eye-grin, as if he was taking sadistic pleasure in torturing his students. The three let out a groan of disappointment, already beginning to hate the day.

"C'mon Kakashi-sensei, can't we train?" Naruto complained, looking up at his sensei. However Kakashi merely shook his head and Naruto seemed to deflate.

"Nope! It seems Tora escaped again, so it's our job to catch her." Kakashi remarked with glee, tossing the three of them their headsets.

"Whatever. I'm going to skin it." Naruto mumbled, only for Sakura to bash him on the head.

"Don't you dare!" She berated, glaring down at him. Naruto opted to say nothing, as he quickly took off, scouring the city for the so called 'demon-cat'. Pft, if it were a demon! The only reason genin's were scared of it was due to the scratching they got when they caught the damned furball.

Sasuke let out a grunt, doing the same. Weren't they supposed to be ninja? Out saving damsels in distress and saving people? Not pulling weeds or chasing after cats. He scowled with a single thought on his mind '_I need to get stronger to avenge the clan and defeat HIM. Mother said I need to restore the clan, but I'm too young to do that.' _He lied to himself, he knew that he was capable and ready to re-build the clan, but he wanted to kill Itachi first.

The three searched the city while Kakashi merely read his book. "Oi cyclops, we see the target." Naruto's voice broke in, causing him to sigh and tear his eyes away from the pervertedness.

"Where is it? Are you sure it's Tora?" Kakashi replied.

"In the market district, almost ready to dart into the forest." Sakura chirped in.

"Who's capable of catching Tora?" Kakashi asked, his other question unanswered.

"Sasuke is!" Naruto but in, causing the Uchiha to scowl. He didn't want to catch the damn thing. "Also, it has a red bow in it's ear, so we're pretty sure it's Tora."

"Alright, go for it." Kakashi said. "You're up, Sasuke."

"I hate you Uzumaki." Sasuke growled out, causing Naruto to chirp back 'Love you too!' to which he ignored. Sasuke hopped down from his perch on the rooftop and landed a few feet in front of the cat. Said spawn of Satan glared and hissed, arching it's back and extending it's claws. The Uchiha ignored this before he approached it slowly, his hands up in a gesture of surrender and peace, if the cat could understand that. The cat hissed more before it seemed to _grin _at him which made the male uneasy. A few feet away from the male, the cat made it's move. With a quick 'mrow' it latched onto Sasuke's face and began scratching. "I HATE YOU UZUMAKI!" He yelled at the top of his lungs, trying to hold the cat at bay.

"Mission successful." Kakashi eye-smiled and began to walk to the Hokage's tower, three genin and cat in tow. "Here's the Fire Diyamo's cat, Hokage-sama." He bowed, to which the genin followed suit. Sasuke walked over to the Fire Chief's wife and watched with silent satisfaction as the damn thing was suffocated between the massive arms of the woman. The cat yowled and hissed, trying to escape, to which the female tightened her grip.

"Oh Tora, I don't know where I would be without you!" She cooed, before paying and leaving only for her voice to exclaim outside of the door, "Tora, come back to mommy!" The three genin let out audible groans as the Hokage grinned in amusement.

"Job well done, Team 7. However it seems that now Tora has escaped once again. You have the option to get the cat back, painting some fences, pulling weeds for the Yamanaka's, or cleaning the Inuzuka's kennel. Which is it?" The Third Hokage had his hands clasped in front of his face, his gaze staring at the three before him.

"With all due respect Hokage-sama," Naruto started, causing his team to glance at him in suspicion. Naruto never called the Third by his title unless he wanted something, or a bad occurrence had just happened. "may we please get a C-rank mission? No offense, but these D-ranks suck ass."

"Naruto!" Sakura and Iruka scolded, before the pinkette allowed Iruka to continue, "You're only genin and you've been only one for six months. You should be grateful that you are even a genin!" The academy instructor had nothing but respect and affection for the boy, but said boy was always thinking over his head.

Kakashi and the Third exchanged glances while Iruka and Naruto traded jabs before Kakashi nodded subtly to the Hokage. The elder nodded back as he cut off both Naruto and Iruka, "Enough! Kakashi, do you think your team is ready for a C-rank mission?" Seeing the copy-cat ninja nod, the Hokage grinned. "Then it's settled! Here we are, a fresh C-rank. A simple escort mission at that. However, due to Iruka being a worrisome man that will probably go bald before you guys get back," his grin widened as Iruka sent the man a fake glare, "we'll be assigning Team 10 to this as well. Iruka, go get Team 10 and debrief them of the details while I bring in our client." Iruka left immediately as an old man with a straw hat walked in, wearing a red tank top, shorts and sandals complete with a battle of sake in hand. He squinted his eyes at the team and let out a snort.

"These three brats are supposed to protect me? They look like they'll wet their diapers as soon as they step out of the village." He slurred.

"Trust us, Tazuna-san, our ninja are more than capable of protecting you." The Hokage said.

The man grumbled and belched, "Alright then, if you say so. Shall we be leaving soon?"

"Team 7 and Team 10 are to report to the village entrance within thirty minutes. Pack only the essentials and maybe a change of clothes as it will take a few days to get there and back." The Hokage said sternly, causing the ninja to bow and disperse, heading towards their home.

Naruto ran into the house and quickly rushed up to his room to pack. Shikamaru was already shoving things into his bag, to which Naruto merely grinned at. He packed an extra black denim vest, a skull on the back of it before putting it in his backpack. He made sure that he had kunai and other weapon essentials. Grabbing his back, he and Shikamaru made their way downstairs, giving their mother a rushed goodbye before the two bounded out the door. Their first real mission outside of the village began in less than 15 minutes.

* * *

Well that is officially the introduction to the Wave arc. I hope you all enjoy

-V


	6. Meet Zabuza

And welcome back to Konoha's Most Unpredictable Conduit. Have fun with this chapter! ^_^

-V

* * *

"So Kakashi-sensei where exactly is Wave country?" Naruto asked, standing in formation behind Tazuna with Sakura and Sasuke. He made the very bottom of the diamond, while Sasuke and Sakura made up the bottom half, Team Ten making up the top half with Shikamaru in front, Kakashi and Asuma behind them keeping guard. Kakashi glanced up from his book and gazed at his blonde haired student.

"Well Naruto, it's part of the Waterfall village, but merely an extension. Wave country itself is just a small village that has a mayor, but no kage or ninja. Civilians, correct Tazuna?" The elder bridge builder gave a brief nod before the throwing back his sake bottle and drinking from it. The group fell into silence, having been traveling for a few hours since they left the village. It was nearly four, if the sun's position in the sky was any indication. Passing by a puddle, Naruto was instantly on guard. Taking note of Shikamaru's tense demeanor that wasn't there minutes ago gave Naruto the affirmative that his brother knew it was trap as well. The blonde looked back to Kakashi and Asuma who looked calm and aloof but the small movement of their hands caused him to know they were on guard as well.

The rustling of chains grabbed everyone's attention, the genin turning around to see Asuma and Kakashi wrapped up in chains by two Mist ninja wearing masks. "Two down." The one on the left called out as they pulled, shredding the two jounin to shreds. "Now only six left. Six easy little- urk!" The one on the right started, before being cut off as Naruto appeared behind him, a kunai embedded into his throat.

"What the hell?" The left one cried out, slashing at Naruto with his gauntlet. Naruto raised a hand to block, ignoring the pain that the cut gave him before he felt his familiar power of smoke envelop his free hand before he sent the blast straight into the guys face, sending him flying. Before any of the genin could react however, Kakashi appeared and knocked the remaining ninja out. Naruto looked to the two teams to see Shikamaru and Sasuke with kunai drawn, the other three frozen in fear. He gave a mental cluck with his tongue, they would have to react faster or they would die.

"Good job Naruto. However next time, allow your teammates to help you, or you could end up dead." Kakashi said in a cheerful tone, eye-smile along with the praise before his emotions did a 360, his demeanor turning serious. He turned to Tazuna who was pale at what he had witnessed. "Now Tazuna, can you tell me why two chunin were going to attack us?" Asuma gave an identical stare before he took the remaining ninja and tied him up to a nearby tree, ready for interrogating.

"I dunno." Came the weak reply, however Kakashi's stare caused him to quickly sweat bullets and relent as the jounin was giving out a small K.I. "Okay okay! They were after me! They were probably sent by Gatou so they could stop any attempt at getting me back to complete the bridge." He looked down somberly, holding his hat within his hands, "Wave Country...we're poor you see? We couldn't afford a higher rank than C, and I'm sorry for putting you and your team through this. I really am. I understand if you wish to leave me out here on my own."

"Like hell we are, old man!" Naruto's exclaim caused everyone to look at him. "We can't just leave him and his country in poverty! It's not right. You all can go back, but I'm going on ahead." He walked forward only to be stopped by Shikamaru.

"Sorry Naruto, but I can't allow you to do that for two reasons. One, the guy with the poison gauntlet got you. Two, Kaa-san would kill me if I came home without you." Shikamaru drawled out, his eyes boring into Naruto's. His eyes widened as he reached out to stop his brother from plunging a kunai into his hand only to react too late. Naruto said nothing as he watched the poison trickle out of his hand before he pulled out the kunai with a small face of grimace. "You idiot!" Came the scolding from his brother as the lazy genius glared at Naruto only to step back in slight surprise at the returned glare.

"Do you honestly think a kunai in the hand is going to stop me?" Came the low reply as Naruto fished out bandages before he looked between Ino and Shikamaru. Shikamaru was still too surprised at how intense the glare was, so Ino stepped forward and began to wrap up his hand. She let out a gasp, staring at the steam that rose from Naruto's hand, the wound closing shut almost instantaneously. She was about to speak up but Naruto caught her eye, explaining with his own: _'You got questions? I'll answer them when we're alone.' _She finished wrapping his hand up without a word and cut it with the kunai. He pocketed said kunai as he walked past the two and stood next to Tazuna, "I swear on the blood dripping from my hand, I will not go back on my word! It's now my nindo! If you all wish to go back, you can." He crossed his arms and eyed the group.

"Troublesome little brother." Shikamaru muttered as he stood next to Naruto, eyeing him before he sighed, "I suppose I'm going with the baka here." Choji soon joined him, munching on his chips.

"Hn. I can't really allow the three lazy asses to take all the lime-light, now can I?" Sasuke said with a cocky grin as he stood beside the three, his arms crossed.

"Fuck you, teme." Naruto piped up, causing Sasuke's grin to widen.

Ino let out an irritated growl before stomping over and standing next to Naruto, "I suppose I'll have to help. But I swear to Kami Naruto, if you get hurt any more on this trip, I'm kicking your ass, waiting until you heal, allow your Kaa-san to kick your ass, THEN I'll kick your ass even more! Understand?" Seeing him nod she nodded and looked at their sensei's and Sakura, "Seems I'm on board as well. Now Billboard-Brow, you comin'?"

Sakura looked on nervously between her sensei and the group, fidgeting ever so slightly. However the look that Sasuke gave her, whether it was of annoyance or of his secretly undying love and devotion to her gave her the answer Ino sought. She walked over to them and stood next to them, standing closer to Sasuke who couldn't move away due to Choji being beside him. He let out a grunt before rolling his eyes at her small squeal. Surprisingly to Ino and Sakura, Ino ignored the Uchiha and stayed next to Naruto.

Asuma exhaled on his cigarette smoke before he looked at Tazuna, "Well it seems that our genin have saved your ass. What say you, Kakashi?"

The lazy one-eyed ninja looked over to him before eye-smiling, "I say that we continue onto the mission, especially since a certain blonde is stubborn to not go back on his nindo." Naruto gave a small whoop while Ino smiled, Sakura and Sasuke giving small smiles, Shikamaru muttering 'Troublesome' with a smirk and Choji happily eating his chips. However, their opponent from the Mist decided to wake up at the opportune moment, giving a small groan. "Well, look who's awake." The ninja opened his eyes to view eight ninja who were mostly staring at him with anger, awaiting answers. Needless to say, he talked.

* * *

"So, who's Zabuza Momochi?" Naruto asked, leaning back in the boat with his hand in the water, the appendage trailing lazily through the ocean.

Kakashi and Asuma exchanged glances: The Mist ninja known as Gozu had revealed that Gatou had hired he and his brother Meizu to kill the old man and if he had failed; he hired another Mist ninja, one of the Seven Swordsman of the Hidden Mist, the 'Demon of the Hidden Mist' known as Zabuza Momochi. "He is the enemy we may come up against within the next hour." Kakashi sighed, looking at Naruto. "He's off limits to you genin, just allow me and Asuma to handle it, alright?" Seeing all of their students nod, the two jounin were allowed to relax for the time being.

"I don't get it." Shikamaru spoke after a moment.

"Get what?" Sasuke asked, raising an eyebrow.

"The reason that Gatou is practically enslaving the village." Came the lazy reply. "Besides the obvious role in expanding his empire and all, I get that. But why target a village this small? No offense, Tazuna-san." Seeing him wave it off, Shikamaru gave a lazy grin.

"Maybe there's something special. I don't really know the reason myself." Tazuna replied, rubbing his goatee in thought. The group fell into a comfortable silence well after that.

Sakura had fallen asleep, much to Kakashi's displeasure. A ninja was only supposed to rest when the client was safely at his home. He said nothing however and merely stared at into the fog in silence, his book open as he absentmindedly read it.

Ino scooted closer to Naruto, shivering slightly from the cold and dampness from the surrounding weather. Naruto took note and gave a slight grin before he shed his jean vest and white hoodie, draping them upon Ino. She smiled with thanks, warmth filling her and the familiar scent of firewood, fire smoke and deer filled her nostrils. She giggled to herself, waving Naruto away when he looked at her in confusion. "Oh nothing Naruto." He rolled his eyes and shook her off, staring ahead.

Choji munched on his chips, "Munch munch-Hey Sasuke-munch munch-want a chip?" The Uchiha regarded him with a raised eyebrow, looking at the offered snack before his hand reached out and grabbed it, the stoic male eating it quietly.

"Thank you, Choji." He replied quietly, causing Naruto, Shikamaru, and Ino to stare at him in shock. "What?" He asked out, his eye twitching.

"We never would have thought Choji would be the one to get you to pull that stick out of your ass." Naruto replied cheekily, grinning. Sasuke merely flipped him off before the boat master let out a slight shiver of discomfort. "What is it?"

"We're approaching land, and this is where you get off. Kami bless you all, and I hope you complete that damned bridge, Tazuna." He growled out, shaking the elder bridge builder's hand, as everyone departed, Kakashi waking Sakura up with a light scolding. Needless to say, she knew now not to fall asleep unless their sensei said they were setting up camp for the night or something.

The group formed around Tazuna once more, Asuma taking the front, Kakashi taking the rear. "So, what are we to expect from Zabuza? Besides a giant battle, I mean. Should I create clones to fan out and surround him? Search for accomplices?"

Kakashi merely waved the idea away, "No Naruto, that won't be necessary. Asuma-Sensei and myself will be able to take Zabuza on by ourselves. As for accomplices, Zabuza works alone." He eye-smiled down at his student, "Don't worry so much, gaki. We got this covered."

Naruto rolled his eyes as he couldn't shake off the uncertainty in the pit of his stomach. It was as if he sensed something was going to happen, which was most likely the case, but he had the feeling that Zabuza wouldn't be alone. He shook his head, Kakashi-Sensei was right after all, wasn't he? Suddenly he heard rustling in the bushes and reacted on instinct, throwing several kunai at said bush. "Naruto!" Sakura scolded, bonking him on top of the head, neither of them noticing Ino's look of anger at the action, "You scared us all. What are you doing, throwing kunai into bushes like that?!" She walked over, her own kunai drawn as she pushed back the bushes to reveal a snow white rabbit. "Look at this. You killed a defenseless rabbit. How do you feel know?"

"Pretty damn great, considering how I got a midnight snack." Naruto retorted as he scrolled up the rabbit, putting said scroll into his bag. "But did any of you look at it's fur? It was snow white, instead of brown. Almost as if it was put in captivity. A wild hare like that would have brown fur, as it's nearly fall right now, not winter. Why would a snow rabbit be out here?" The sound of something whistling in the air towards them caused him to scream, "Get down!" He quickly smoke dashed to Ino, as everyone else was on the ground. He quickly wrapped his arms around her in a protective hug and threw themselves to the ground, a giant sword slamming into the tree next to them. If Ino had been standing, she would have been sliced through, like a pile of meat. "You okay?" Naruto murmured, looking down at her. She nodded slightly before the two of them stood, weapons drawn. The slight groaning of the sword as weight was added to it against the tree caused all of the group to look at the hilt.

"Damn, missed one." The male called out. He had black spiky hair, a Mist headband with a scratch running through the symbol, declaring his status as a missing ninja, suspenders around chiseled shoulders that connected to camofluage pants that met sandals. Bandages covered the male's nose and mouth, as his brown eyes stared down at the group. "Ah, Kakashi Hatake and Asuma Sarutobi. Oh, and look at that, you got groups of genin. Hell, they probably haven't even made it out of their training diapers yet, have they? It'll be a shame for Konoha when I send you all back in match boxes." The tone of his voice sent shivers down the genin's spines, as they all went closer to Tazuna, trying to guard him to the best of their ability. "That's cute. Little kids trying to play ninja." He scoffed, hopping off his sword and pulling it out effortlessly of the tree, hefting it over his shoulder. "I'll make quick work of you and your brats, then I'll kill the old man."

"I'm sorry Zabuza Momochi, but we can't allow you to do that." Asuma replied as he spit his used cigarette onto the ground, pulling out his trench knives, the blades being lengthened by his chakra.

"I have to agree with my friend here, Zabuza." Kakashi stated, pulling up his headband to reveal his fully matured Sharingan.

"How?" Sasuke hissed out, his eyes wide with shock and rage. "How could you have the Sharingan Kakashi? You're not an Uchiha!"

"A story for another time, Sasuke." Kakashi said as he drew a kunai. Said eye spun wildly as fog began to fill the area, making it hard for anyone to see.

"Water Style: Hidden Mist Technique." Zabuza's voice rang out, seemingly from everywhere at once. "There are eight vital points to kill a person but those eight areas are just limitless in possibility. The liver, heart, spleen, kidney, lungs, spine, brain, or through the waist. Hm. Now how should I kill the old man?" His question was filled with malice and joy at the same time, it was making it difficult for Choji, Sasuke, Ino and Sakura to operate. Shikamaru was straining as well, but not as much as the others. Naruto seemed the least affected as he kept his eyes peeled for the ninja. Hearing rustling to his left he raised up his kunai, Zabuza forcing him down to his knees with his strength.

"Naruto!" Asuma called out, slashing at Zabuza with his trench knives, only for the missing ninja to collapse into water. "Damn it. A water clone? Guys, be on your guard and keep Tazuna surrounded!" The battle for Tazuna's life was just beginning, and the genin had no idea what to do besides protect him to the best of their ability.

Naruto summed up their situation in just one word, "Shit."

* * *

I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, and I think this will hold you guys off for now. Read and review! Ja ne!

-V


	7. Zabuza's Accomplice and Water Walking

Did you all miss me? I hope so, for this chapter is to roll forward and continue from where we left off! Welcome back to Konoha's Most Unpredictable Conduit.

-V

* * *

"You've got to be kiddin' me!" Naruto yelled as he quickly created a clone to dodge Zabuza's downward slash before using the smoke to slash at the missing ninja with a kunai. Zabuza merely jumped back and raised his arm to capture Kakashi's foot, tightening the muscles before he swung the Sharingan user around to slam into Asuma, the two flying back. All of the genin stepped back in fear as Zabuza's head whipped towards them, the Mist ninja laughing as he charged them, his sword dragging across the ground.

"Take this, brats!" He roared, only for a kunai to plunge into his stomach and wind blades to slash at his back. He grinned darkly before disappearing into a puddle of water, the real Zabuza slashing at Kakashi who did the same technique. "Damn you Hatake!" He growled out, parring with Asuma's wind blades. He jumped back and disappeared into the fog.

"Team Seven and Team Ten, you are to guard Tazuna in Manji Formation." Kakashi ordered, sparks flying from his kunai to block Zabuza's sword. He knew that his chakra was already one fourth empty, nearing half. He had to end this with Asuma to ensure that they could carry out the mission no problem. He pushed against Zabuza while watching as Asuma struck at him from behind only to disappear in water once more. "What's wrong Zabuza? Hiding instead of fighting? So much for the 'bloody demon' of the Hidden Mist." He taunted, only for one arm to wrap around his neck tightly, the other grabbing the kunai before it could slash at the man. Another clone of Zabuza had Asuma in the same situation. Kakashi's eyes widened as he looked down; they were standing on water and water was Zabuza's main affinity. A third Zabuza appeared from the mist, quickly going through hand-signs.

"Water Style: Water Prison Jutsu!" He cried out, the two clones disappearing as two sphere's of water formed around the jounin. Asuma and Kakashi were grouped together, Zabuza's left hand hold the prison together. With his other hand he created a clone as he grinned underneath his mask. "Looks like this is it for you, Sarutobi and Hatake. Your genin were nothing but kids still in their diapers. Hell, by the time I graduated I already had blood on my hands."

"What? What's he talking about, Kakashi-Sensei?" Sakura voiced her thoughts, while the rest looked on with fearful eyes.

"There was a tradition in the Hidden Mist village." Kakashi began, gazing at Zabuza, "Students were to graduate only if they killed the other class members. Ten years ago, the tradition changed. You see, a year before a kid slaughtered the entire graduating class with no remorse or afterthought."

Zabuza let out a dark chuckle as he craned his head upward to stare up at the sky as if reminiscing. "It felt so good." He created a clone with his right hand grinning. "Prepare to die, brats!"

"Oh no you don't!" Naruto cried out, his hands forming a T. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Clones filled the area as they did when Naruto used the technique with Mizuki.

"Shadow clones eh? And quite an amount. I'm a little impressed that a brat like you can supply this many clones. But it will not matter." Zabuza said as the clone rushed forward, the clones meeting him halfway. They all dog-piled the man while Naruto and Shikamaru quickly nodded to each other before they looked to Sasuke.

"What? You got a plan?" Sasuke asked, staring at the two. Shikamaru nodded and the three formed a huddle.

"We're going to henge Naruto as a demon wind shuriken while you throw one and then throw Naruto after the first one. I will attempt to sneak around and capture Zabuza with my shadow possession jutsu. Sound good?" Seeing Sasuke nod, Shikamaru and Naruto broke before Shikamaru tossed a glance to the other three genin, "Sorry Choji, I think you, Ino and Sakura should protect Tazuna. Sound good?" His portly friend nodded, albeit reluctantly before taking guard with the other two.

While the Naruto clones were still restraining Zabuza, the luck soon ran out. With a roar, the missing ninja from the Mist threw the clones off sending them tumbling with great velocity. Shikamaru and Sasuke acted while Naruto henged himself into a demon wind shuriken, a clone placing him in it's backpack before fumbling through it. "Don't worry! I still got this!" He quickly threw the shuriken at Sasuke who caught it. Sasuke spun it around before unfolding it, taking note of Shikamaru darting off through the fog, before another Shikamaru quickly joined him. He smirked and proceeded to throw the shuriken at Zabuza. "A demon wind shuriken? Pathetic." Zabuza said confidently before his eyes widened in shock, watching the shuriken pass his clone. "Going past my clone and towards my real body eh? Clever." He effortlessly caught it before he grinned underneath his mask, "But a wasted effort, I'm afraid." However, the second shuriken threw him for a loop as his eyes widened even more. "A second one? Oh this is just annoying." He jumped over the second one, causing Sasuke to smirk.

Kakashi, Asuma, Tazua, Sakura and Ino watched as the shuriken behind Zabuza dispelled in a plume of smoke to reveal Naruto who grinned in triumph, holding a ball of fire and smoke within his hand. "Booyah mother fucker!" He cried out as he shot the energy ball towards Zabuza. The missing ninja's eyes widened to their full extent as he tilted his head back and removed his hand from the prison, freeing Kakashi and Asuma. Zabuza attempted to move, only to find himself unable to do so.

"What the hell? I can't move?!" He exclaimed, looking around wildly for the source.

"Shadow Possession Jutsu, a success." Shikamaru drawled out, panting slightly as he continued to hold Zabuza in place. Shikamaru moved his arm, Zabuza's arm holding the shuriken mimicking the Nara. Shikamaru made the movement to ensure that Zabuza held the shuriken against his throat, sharp end against his jugular before he smirked. "Checkmate." However before he could enact the movement he was kicked from behind and sent skidding across the water. He quickly recovered and landed with a splash next to Naruto. Surfacing he spat out water, "The hell?" He asked, as all Leaf genin gazed at the new opponent.

He was no older than Naruto and the same height as Sasuke. Long black hair that parted at the front to safely land beside the sides of the mask that covered his face. The mask bore the markings of the Mist nin-hunters, but he was obviously a fake. He held senbon needles in his hand as he said in a strict voice, "I am sorry, but I cannot allow you to harm Zabuza-Sama."

Zabuza now free of Shikamaru's hold rushed towards the two Nara's, only for Kakashi to push him back, Asuma slamming his wind blade into Zabuza's side, filling the air with a spray of blood. Zabuza roared in pain as he slashed at the Sarutobi before jumping away from the jounin. "Damn you!" He cursed, glaring at the Leaf ninja with hatred. Grabbing his sword he rushed forward once more, only for a mirror of Ice to appear in front of him. "The hell are you doing?" He glared at his accomplice.

"We're leaving, Zabuza-Sama. Your wound is bleeding quite rapidly and if you are to keep this up, you will die. We can't allow that." The fake hunter nin chided slightly before he shunshined next to Zabuza. "Be warned, we will be back." However, a fireball from Naruto slammed into Zabuza, sending him flying back. The accomplice went to move, only for Shikamaru's shadow to stop him. "Zabuza-Sama!" The boy cried out, struggling against Shikamaru's shadow.

"Kakashi, now!" Naruto yelled out. The two jounin didn't need any further telling as they rushed toward the recovering missing ninja, only for said ninja to shunshin in front of the mirror, jumping through it without a second glance. The accomplice broke free and followed shortly, the mirror simply dissolving into water.

"Damn it!" Shikamaru growled out as he and Naruto swam up onto land. They were met by the others as he sighed. "We were so close!"

"Yeah, but we didn't know he would have an accomplice." Sakura pointed out.

"To be fair, Naruto did ask Kakashi-Sensei if he should go scouting." Ino replied, matching Sakura's glare with her own.

"Now calm down. We're all still alive and that's what matters." Asuma stated as he stepped in between the two girls. "Tazuna-san, shall we?" The bridge builder nodded and the group began to move, stopping as they heard a 'thud' behind them.

"Kakashi-Sensei!" Naruto cried out as he and the rest of Team Seven surrounded the man. "Kakashi! Wake up!"

"Naruto!" Asuma said sternly. "He's fine, just chakra exhaustion from that eye. C'mon, let's get him up." Naruto nodded and created some clones which were tasked with carrying the jounin the rest of the way.

They continued to travel to Tazuna's house, passing through the village and encountering the beggars and thieves. One unlucky soul tried to take Naruto's wallet, only to be slammed into the ground by the blonde. "What happened?" Ino asked, hugging herself as her eyes swept upon the lifeless shells of the people that used to inhabit Wave.

"Gatou happened." Tazuna said solemnly. "He came one day and stared to take over. Many have tried to take him down and make him leave, but we haven't been strong enough. There was one man who tried, but he was slain by Gatou in front of everyone, reminding everyone who was in control. And so far the only hope that we have is this bridge. If it gets completed we can start trade with the main cities and get this village prosperous once more. However with Gatou out for my head, it hasn't been an easy task. Many have quit helping me in fear of dying. I don't blame them."

Naruto's eyes softened as he reached into his pack and pulled out an apple before he crouched down and offered it to a small child hiding behind his mother. The mother looked at Naruto with gratitude while the boy stepped forward hesitantly. "Come on little guy." Naruto coaxed a small smile on his face. The boy was pushed forward by his mother slightly, before the dirty hands grasped the apple and pulled it back from Naruto's outstretched hand.

"Thank you kind sir." The mother whispered as the boy bit into the apple happily. Naruto stood up and before her was another apple. She looked hesitant just as her boy did a moment ago, but took it after he refused to budge. Tears slowly slid down her cheeks as she whispered once more, "Thank you." Naruto merely smiled and ruffled the boy's hair before looking to Tazuna, who got the hint and continued towards his house.

"Don't worry old man. We'll make sure the bridge is complete, do not worry. Some tyrant isn't going to stop us." Naruto said confidently. He grinned and put his hands behind his head as he continued, "If he even wants to come close to touching you, he has to come through me and if he gets through me, he'll have to get through the rest of us."

"How can you be so confident? Gatou's powerful, Naruto." Ino said uncertainly. Naruto turned to her and gave his infamous foxy grin, causing a blush to spread across her face.

"That's simple, Ino. Nothing is going to stop me from making sure that the old man and this village recover from the depression they have been receiving." He said as he continued on his way.

"Sometimes I think that I mistake your smartness for stupidity and chilvary." Shikamaru commented, earning a glare from his brother. He merely smirked and waved his hand, "Maa, I was kidding brother."

Sasuke looked at Naruto with a small smirk as he nodded at Naruto. "Uzumaki's right. While I hate to admit that fact," He ignored the bird Naruto so graciously flipped him, "we cannot allow Gatou to continue what he's doing here, now can we? It wouldn't be right."

"Yeah, Sasuke-kun's right!" Sakura agreed instantly, causing the Uchiha to roll his eyes. She was merely but a sheep following the shepherd. Hopefully this mission would knock that out of her and make her a better kunoichi because of it.

"Munch munch-How are we going to stop him?" Choji asked through a mouthful of chips.

"That's simple." Asuma spoke up, causing the genin to look at him while the man merely inhaled on his cigarette. "We show him what Leaf ninja can really do, and who he's messing with."

"Hell yeah!" Naruto cheered as Tazuna led them to a house. While it wasn't the biggest, it was clean and kept in well condition. Apart from the rest of the oppressed country, the house was relatively untouched by Gatou's iron fist. Tazuna opened the door and the others followed, their sandals all lining up against the door accompanied by Naruto's shoes.

"Tsunami, I'm home!" Tazuna called out. "I have guards with me and one is unconscious. See if you cannot find a room, ne?"

"Oh father!" A voice called out as a woman in her mid twenty's appeared, raven black hair and smooth porcelain skin to boot. She rushed forward and embraced her father in a hug before taking a look at the ninja. "Ah, so you must be from the Leaf, correct?" They all nodded, and Tsunami's eyes shot to Kakashi, a look of worry crossing her face. "Oh! Come quickly, this way." She motioned for the clones who brought Kakashi forward and lay him on a mat in a reasonably big room, one that could house the boys. Tsunami got a rag and dabbed Kakashi's face, making sure he was comfortable before she stood. "Well, he may be out for quite a while. How long, I cannot tell. I'm Tsunami, by the way." She bowed, "I thank you for escorting my father back here."

"It's not a problem, Tsunami-san." Asuma spoke up before he introduced himself, "I'm Asuma Sarutobi, jounin sensei for Team Ten, and the brats here are Naruto Uzumaki Nara, Shikamaru Nara, Sasuke Uchiha, Choji Akimichi, Ino Yamanaka and Sakura Haruno. Kakashi is in charge of Team Seven, and his brats are Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura."

"It's a pleasure to meet all of you. Now if you excuse me, I have to go prepare dinner." She left the room, allowing the Leaf ninja to remain.

"So Asuma-Sensei." Shikamaru drawled out. "What now?"

"Well, we stay here and complete the bridge of course. Tomorrow I'll be instructing your training alright? Since Kakashi is out, I want clones to patrol around the bridge, the house and to protect it, understand Naruto?" The blonde in question nodded before Asuma grinned. "Fantastic. Now, let's all settle down and prepare for dinner and then bed. We've all had a long night, ne?"

* * *

The following morning Naruto was up right as the sun was rising. Birds chirped and tweeted, talking to each another. The blonde smiled slightly as he made his way to the shower, stripping down and washing away the filth and sweat from the previous day. He frowned as he was drying off, muttering "How are we going to defeat Zabuza? Hell, we don't even know how long he'll be out." He sighed and finished getting dressed before exiting. On his way downstairs he almost bumped into Ino who was shuffling along in a drowsy stupor. "Oh, sorry Ino! Morning, by the way." He said cheerfully, although he controlled his volume as most everyone else was still asleep.

She rubbed sleep out of her eyes and leaned against him for a moment, mumbling against his shoulder, "G'mornin', Naruto-kun." She didn't realize she added the suffix to his name and the male merely had a blush on his face before he waved it away. She yawned quietly as she left him and continued onwards to the bathroom. Naruto merely shook his head with a grin and went downstairs, seeing Tsunami and Tazuna already in the kitchen.

"Ah, good morning Naruto-san." Tsunami greeted, setting a cup of tea down near his hands. Naruto took it and took a tentative sip, knowing that the tea was fresh off of the stove. He ignored the slight scalding feeling on his tongue that was replaced with joy at the drink.

"Good morning, Tsunami-san. But please, call me Naruto." The boy offered as he looked over at the bridge builder. "Morning, old man."

"G'mornin' brat." The man replied easily as he drank some of his tea before he flapped out his newspaper, his eyes scanning the print. "How good are you with architecture?" He asked, the question catching Naruto off guard.

"Well," the boy scratched the back of his head sheepishly, "I'm 16, so not very well. But I am a fast learner and I can create multiple copies of myself, as you seen yesterday. So merely instruct the clones and they'll have the bridge completed in no time!" He gave the man a thumbs up, causing Tazuna to chuckle to himself while reading the newspaper. The man didn't want to admit it, but the kid had spunk. He was what this country needed to get itself up on it's feet once more. Behind his newspaper, Tazuna's facial expression turned into one of sorrow as he remembered one who came before Naruto, one who acted like him. A man who everyone looked up to, who Inari viewed as a father, a hero and who taught them the meaning of courage, only to be slaughtered by Gatou in public: Kaiza. His elderly eyes briefly glanced up at Naruto who was talking to Tsunami before he frowned. He hoped that Naruto wouldn't end up like Kaiza.

"Well that's good Naruto. I'm sure father would appreciate any help you can give." Tsunami said with a smile, although it didn't quite reach her eyes. Naruto noted this and put away the information for later, not bothering to pry into his client's personal life. But why did these two seem so down? Did they lose someone to Gatou? His mind began to whirl and fill with possibilities, the train of thought soon vanishing as Ino sat down beside him, Shikamaru on the other side.

"Mornin', brother." Shikamaru yawned out while accepting the plate from Tsunami, eating almost immediately.

"Yeah, good morning, Naruto-kun!" Ino chirped, feeling refreshed since her morning shower. Some hair still stuck to her scalp and face if that were any indication. Naruto stopped mid bite to gaze at her with wide eyes. She blinked owlishly, "What?" He wordlessly reached up and moved her bang away from her eye as he nodded to himself. Ino was blushing a shade of red that would put a firetruck to shame, before she began to eat without a retort. Naruto simply grinned before Asuma sat down across from him, along with Sakura, Sasuke and Choji. "So Asuma-Sensei, what's the plan?"

"Well as I said last night, Ino," Team Ten's sensei stated as he finished his breakfast, "We'll be training. Is everyone ready?" The genin stood up, only for Asuma to halt Naruto. "Now wait a second blondie, you gotta help guard the bridge builder. Well, your clones. So hop to it! Create them so they can help the bridge builder, guard the house and you can train." Naruto merely grinned again before several 'poofs' filled the area.

"Alright guys!" Naruto barked, causing all of the clones to look at him, "3/4 of you will guard the old man and help on the bridge, while the other 1/4 will be guarding the house. Understand?" The clones all saluted and stood at attention while Naruto turned to Tazuna, "All yours old man." With that the blonde turned and walked out of the house before calling out, "Hey Asuma-Sensei! You comin'?!"

Asuma rolled his eyes as he motioned for the other genin, "Come on, otherwise knucklehead will get impatient." This earned a chuckle from Shikamaru and Choji, a smirk from Sasuke and a fist pump from Sakura, meanwhile Ino frowned at the comment he made towards Naruto. However at the train of thought, Ino shook her head and quickly wondered why the blonde knucklehead was on her thoughts anyway. The group made their way out to the clearing where Asuma stood in front of them, an unlit cigarette in their mouth. "Alright then. Since Kakashi is out of the game for now, I'll be instructing your teaching. You all are going to learn how to climb a tree."

"WHAT?!" Ino and Sakura screeched out, causing their male teammates to cover their ears and cringe.

"Yes, you'll be learning how to climb a tree. However, there's a catch. You won't be using your hands." Asuma smirked and lit his cigarette, inhaling and savoring the taste before he pushed chakra to his feet, the blades of grass spreading outwards from the action. He headed to the tree and started walking up it, scaling it. He headed to the nearest branch and hung upside down, gazing at the gobsmacked genin with a grin. He exhaled, a cloud of smoke covering his face before it drafted upwards and away. "Well, what are you waiting for?" He quickly threw down five kunai...wait, five? He was missing the other Nara. Where was he? His brown eyes scanned the surrounding area, before around him where he nearly dropped his cigarette in shock. Naruto Uzumaki Nara was currently beside him, sporting the infamous foxy grin he was known to have. "What the..? How and when did you learn this?" He questioned, crossing his arms.

"Maa, that's a secret that I'm not willing to divulge." Came the reply as the blonde picked at his ear with his pinky finger. "Since they know what to do, I suppose I'll be taking a nap." Naruto started to leave and make his descent, only for Asuma to grab the back of his hood. "Hey! Asuma-Sensei, what gives?"

"Well, since you're already done with this, you'll be moving onto the next portion of chakra control." The smoking jounin grinned, although Naruto sensed a great evil coming from said smile. "Follow me." Before the two left, Asuma created a clone to which he instructed, "You're going to watch the brats for me. If more of them complete the tree walking exercise, send them my way." The clone nodded and the two left, leaving five other genin to complete the horror known as the tree walking exercise.

The two approached the nearby lake, to which Naruto looked up at his temporary sensei in confusion. "Uh smoky, what are we doing here?"

"Well, whiskers, we'll be doing water walking. Or rather, you will and I'll sit back and laugh." Came the reply, as Asuma applied chakra to his feet and stepped out onto the water before walking out halfway away from Naruto. "Same concept as tree walking, except this time you'll have to keep finding the balance, otherwise you'll fall into the water." He inhaled on his cigarette and blinked for a moment as he watched his blonde student strip out of his vest and jacket, throwing them to the side, where his shoes and socks soon landed beside them. "Uh...Naruto? What are you doing?"

"I'm stripping." Came the reply, as if answering that the sky was blue and the sun was orange. "Well, somewhat. I would rather have a cold and wet torso, than a cold and wet bottom." He shrugged as he closed his eyes and concentrated, starting to apply the chakra to the soles of his feet. Finding it, he let out a grin as he took a step out onto the water, continuing to apply the balance as he took another shaky step forward. "Hey, hey I got it!" In his excitement, he forgot all about the concentration as gravity decided to take hold as he fell in the water before resurfacing, ignoring Asuma's laughter that reached his ears. "Not funny!" He let out a sigh as he hefted himself up onto the deck, before trying to find the balance once more. He took a few steps forward, a few feet away from Asuma. However he lost his concentration and swam back to the dock. This process continued for a good two hours before Asuma spoke up, a question eating away at his brain.

"So whiskers, I got a question. Your powers. Where do they come from? It's for sure not a bloodline, so what gives? You didn't get them from the fox, did you?" Seeing Naruto lose his concentration to shock and falling into the water before gazing up at Asuma in shock and slight fear causing Asuma's eyebrows to furrow. "Look, Naruto. I'm not like the bigoted villagers. You're not the fox. You're Naruto Uzumaki Nara, a shinobi from the village hidden in the Leafs. So, you don't have anything to worry about from me." He gave a smile, watching as Naruto returned it. The boy swam to the deck and hefted himself up.

Naruto ignored the cold feeling that the water gave him, ignored how the jeans clung to his skin due to him being soaked. He looked at his temporary sensei, remaining silent as he sorted out his words. After five minutes he spoke. "You're right, it's not a bloodline. But it's hard to explain. You see, on the night of the Nine Tails attack, there was this man. This man was Delsin Rowe, someone regarded to as a 'conduit'. A conduit is someone with superhuman abilities that was persecuted where he was from. He helped in trying to defeat the fox, but was sealed inside of me along with the furball. His body was vaporized, but his soul remained and in his soul, his powers as well. But here's the weird part. He was from another Earth. Another dimension, believe it or not." Asuma's cigarette fell out of his mouth, before he managed to catch it before it polluted the water.

"From a different Earth? Another dimension?" Asuma echoed, looking at the blonde.

"That's right." A voice came from behind them, prompting the two to look at the voice. To their utter shock they saw the translucent astral projection of said conduit. "Yo Naruto, what's up?"

"I...What? How are you out? I thought you were sealed inside of me?" Naruto asked in disbelief.

"Oh, I am, don't worry." Delsin waved his hand dismissively at Naruto's question. "But I guess I can project myself out, so long as you have enough chakra to do it. But what Naruto said was right, Asuma. I am from another Earth, another dimension. I was transported here from an encounter with another conduit, one who had that ability. I was launched into your world and was thrust upon the Nine Tails attack. So naturally I decided to do what anyone would do. I tried to help and stop the fox. And it sorta worked."

"So wait, you can project yourself from my subconscious so long as I have enough chakra? That is so cool!" Naruto cheered before he looked at the man. "Hey, does that mean you can help me with training?"

"For your smoke, yes. For your ninja training, that would be a no." Delsin's translucent hand reached up and scratched the back of his neck, reminding Asuma of the blonde haired student beside him. "Why, what do you have in mind?"

"Well, I was thinking instead of just firing smoke and fire from both of my hands, is there a way I can concentrate single bursts from my finger tips? Kinda like energy blasts?" Naruto threw the idea out into the wind, watching as Delsin listened and processed the information.

Delsin's mouth curved up into a grin as he chuckled, "You're fuckin' brilliant kid. You do not show it, but you are a fuckin' mastermind. You can do anything you set your mind to. You just gotta believe. But for your suggestion, yes it is possible. It's like combining the precision of neon and smoke into one."

"Neon? I thought that was just the element in street signs. I didn't know it could be utilized as a power." Asuma interjected, his eyebrow arched.

"Well yes. I gained the ability when I absorbed it from Fetch. And that leads me to this explanation. My main conduit ability is to absorb the other conduit powers of others, obviously. However when I was sealed into Naruto, so far the only ability that transferred was smoke and fire. I doubt my power absorption was transferred. However I don't think Naruto here ever had a chance to try it out, since most of everyone in the Leaf ninja is fire users. But at the same time, conduit powers are different from chakra and jutsu, so I don't think it'll work."

"Like hell I'm going to just not try it!" Naruto threw his hand out, grinning. "If that means to get stronger to protect the Leaf, then hell yeah I'm going to try it! No one is going to stop me either!"

"Well, they might if you attempt to touch an enemy and they kill you." Asuma interjected once again, giving a wide grin which caused Naruto to deflate. "But it's worth a shot." Naruto bubbled back up with excitement.

"I'll help train you later Naruto. My time out here is waning, as it takes effort from both of us to keep the link established. Later." With a simple wave, the conduit that bestowed Naruto his powers through a sealing disappeared back into Naruto's subconscious.

"Well, that was new and odd." Asuma concluded, blinking.

"Yeah, no kiddin'." Naruto agreed, blinking rapidly. "Well, I can't get stronger just doing nothing. Here I go!" He quickly charged chakra into the soles of his feet and proceeded to jump off of the dock, landing on the water firmly. He grinned with determination before he began to take a few steps forward, eventually breaking out into a run. He let out a wild whoop and laugh, finally having mastered the water walking exercise after a few hours. Asuma meanwhile, was watching as was impressed. Perhaps what Delsin said about Naruto was right.

* * *

Well, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! What would you all like to see in the next one? I'm up for ideas!

-V


	8. Sakura's new determination

Well, welcome back to Konoha's Most Unpredictable Conduit. Let's get this show on the road and get closer to wrapping things up with Zabuza and his lot, shall we?

-V

* * *

Sasuke panted as he glared up at the recent slash he made in the tree with his kunai. He still wasn't at the top, which means he wasn't growing stronger! His inferiority complex with Itachi kept building and rising. He was slowly growing more and more distant from his remaining family member and teammates, his thirst for power replacing the petty attachments he felt towards them. He clenched his fists as he ran towards the tree once more, running up it as he got closer and closer to his previous mark. However, the sudden appearance of a certain blonde in his mind made him lose his concentration and fall to the bottom, making a slash only a few centimeters above the last. Damn it! It was always him, wasn't it?

The blonde Nara who always seemed to stay one step ahead of him. The Uchiha didn't get it. According to his father, Naruto was a nobody that the Nara clan took pity on and adopted. So why the hell was Uzumaki so powerful?! He had apparently gotten it done before all of them, which made his blood boil. It was only him doing the tree exercise now, all alone. Ino and Sakura had gotten it thirty minutes after Naruto left, Choji and Shikamaru getting it within the next few hours. Two days had passed since. He cursed, running up the tree once more and surpassed his last mark, only for his feet to give way, the chakra fading. In his intense desire to get stronger and complete the exercise, Sasuke hadn't realized how dangerously low his chakra was. He reached out but grabbed nothing except air, plummeting to the ground. Suddenly Naruto was there, gripping to the tree using one hand and his feet, his other hand grasping Sasuke's ankle. The two landed as Naruto looked at the male. "You okay?"

Sasuke brushed himself off and proceeded to walk away with a 'hn', not even wanting to look at Naruto as it would further infuriate him. He disappeared further into the forest leaving Naruto by himself. Said blonde frowned at Sasuke's actions before thinking '_The hell is his problem? He's been acting like an ass lately.' _

_'Maybe he's angry at your progress, kid.' _Delsin's voice popped up from within his mind.

'_Him? Jealous of me? That's a bit crazy, Delsin. He has nothing to be jealous of. He's an Uchiha, one of the last great ninja in the Leaf. Or so everyone says. I'll prove them all wrong! He's great in terms of skill, but is he great as a person? If he's not great as a person, he'll only thirst for power and probably try to leave the village.' _Naruto's eyes widened at the thought as pieces began to fit together like a puzzle. _'He has a deep yearning to kill his older brother, Itachi due to said brother killing off most of his clan. He still trains with me, signifying he has some sort of attachment with me, unknown what it is though. However during the bell exercise with Kakashi that day, Sasuke seemed focused on trying to get the bell himself and proving his power. Ah, what a drag! Looks like I'll have to keep an extra close eye out on the 'last' Uchiha.' _Naruto ran a hand down his face, rubbing it before he began to walk to in Sasuke's general direction, intent on saving him from the potential darkness within himself.

Sasuke meanwhile had continued to train away from the others, running up the tree as he slashed out, nearing the top of the current tree. He began to fall once more, backflipping and landing on his feet before falling to his hands and knees, exhausted. He panted, taking deep gulps of air as he tried to regain his strength. However he kept abusing his chakra and attempting to shrug it off, nearing closer and closer to death. His eyes widened as a pill landed in front of him; a chakra pill that could be used to regain his chakra and strength. But who would help him? Raising his head, he ogled at Naruto in shock. Why was Uzumaki helping him? Was it pity? Was it because Naruto sought to gloat at beating the tree walking exercise before him? The last thought caused the Uchiha to scowl and stand, chewing the pill as he ignored the bitter taste. "What do you want, dobe?"

"I've came to make sure you weren't already halfway in the grave, teme." Naruto replied calmly. "Seeing as you were indeed halfway in the grave, I decided to help you out."

"I don't need your help!" Sasuke argued, narrowing his eyes at the blonde. Naruto merely stared him down and crossed his arms. Sasuke grit his teeth and clenched his fists once more, wanting to punch his lights out. "What? Got something to say?"

"Yeah, I do." Naruto responded, his eyes losing their normal calmness and friendliness, turning into cold glaciers with no emotion in them. Sasuke took a step back as Naruto glared at him. "Why the fuck do you have a stick up your ass? You've been acting like we're worse than trash and that you're better than us. So what gives, Sasuke?"

"I need to get stronger to defeat him." Sasuke retorted back, his eyes narrowed at Naruto.

"Who? Itachi?" Seeing Sasuke tense up and look ready to attack, Naruto pressed on. "Well I got some news for you buddy, no matter how 'powerful' you think you are alone, you won't be able to defeat Itachi that way. How do you think he got to the level he was when he did the deed all those years ago? It wasn't just by training alone and shutting everyone out. It was by relying on teammates and having bonds. You think that it's so foolish to rely on someone just because you're an Uchiha. Well, if you would rather die than succeed, then by all means, continue to train yourself into the ground and push everyone away. See where it gets you." His voice transformed from low and neutral, and by the end of his speech it was full of malice and ill will. As if tempting Sasuke to do something. However, the Uchiha merely stayed in place, absorbing all of Naruto's words. The blonde merely turned around and started to walk back to Tazuna's house. "Do not do anything foolish, Uchiha. I would hate to have to put you down." Sasuke's eyes widened at what Naruto just said. He would be willing to kill Sasuke? A fellow Leaf ninja? That would surely execute Naruto as well! Unless Sasuke managed to leave the village and become a rogue ninja. Then Naruto would get away without any repercussion.

The Uchiha frowned and looked at the tree before running at it once more. Perhaps Naruto was right. Perhaps true strength was in relying on others besides just yourself. He shook his head and the thoughts of the blonde and his words fled his mind as he once more charged the tree. He grinned in satisfaction as he surpassed the previous mark and continued to scale the tree, eventually reaching the top. He let out a chuckle as he nodded to himself. "I feel stronger already." He muttered, although he knew it was mostly untrue. He hopped down from the tree and headed back to Tazuna's house, in need of a shower, dinner and rest.

Everyone was sitting down at the table, looking up as Sasuke entered, dirt and grime on his clothing, bags under his eyes. He had been running himself ragged. "Sit down, Sasuke-san. You can eat and then go shower." Tsunami said. He sat down and gave a small smile at the food as he began to eat slowly, savoring what little meal they had. "I do appreciate everything you've done for us, Asuma-san, Kakashi-san." She turned and nodded her thanks, a smile on her face at the two jounin. Kakashi had woken up just that morning and was still recovering, using crutches for aid.

"It's not a problem. We wouldn't have been able to face Naruto if we had turned back. It's really his doing that we're here." The rest nodded their agreement at Kakashi's words, while Tsunami and Tazuna turned to the boy.

"It's nothing, really. I couldn't just let the old man fend for himself." Naruto mumbled, scratching his left whiskered cheek. The boy was flustered and Ino decided to act on that by wrapping her arms around his neck, tugging and pulling at his cheeks.

"Ah, Naru-kun! Being the big brave hero that saves the day as always!" She cooed, watching the boy blush harder. She always had a mischievous streak when it came to Naruto, but it seemed to be coming out more as of late. Was it hormones, her secret crush on the blonde? Probably both, but she didn't care. It was about time she claimed him as hers. "You see, Naruto's always been protective and good, he even fought of some bullies from me and Sakura over there. Remember that, Bill-board brow?"

Sakura scowled at the nickname but nodded nonetheless. "Ino-pig has a point. Naruto did do that. But between then and now he's only gotten annoying, what with his pranks and slacking off. It's a surprise that he managed to actually get strong enough to tie with Sasuke." She rolled her eyes, about to go into her 'Sasuke' mode when said Uchiha spoke up.

"Hey, Sakura?" Sasuke questioned.

"Yes?" She asked with glee. He was actually talking to her and he was going to ask her something. Maybe on a date?

"Shut up. You're more annoying than Naruto, and you've been slacking off on training. So, if you ever want me to take you out on a date, or even consider your existence, you'll have to improve in all aspects of you being a kunoichi. Everyone on this mission except you has training under their belt." His words lashed out, cutting into her heart, as they sunk in. Her eyes widened in shock at the words her crush said to her, but with a gasp she realized he was right. What was she on the team for? All she was good for were her brains, and that was only in the academy.

She scooted back her chair and nodded to Tsunami with her hair covering her eyes. "If you'll excuse me, everyone." She turned and walked out the door, it swinging shut in the silence Sasuke's words left.

"Don't you think you may have gone a bit too far?" Kakashi pondered, his one eye gazing at Sasuke.

"Hn. It'll do her some good in the long run." Sasuke reasoned. He got up after finishing his meal and showered, retiring for the day.

"Where are you going?" Ino demanded, watching as Naruto headed towards the forest.

"Training. That, and to give Sakura a hand. If she wants to take Sasuke's words to heart, she'll need a partner, ne? Oh, and Kakashi?" He turned and looked at his long-time friend and sensei.

"Yes, Naruto?"

"That means teaching us more than tree-walking and team building exercises. If we are to be successful as a unit, we'll have to have a successful teacher. Since you know over a 1,000 jutsu, surely you'll be capable?" Without a reply, Naruto turned and left.

Kakashi rubbed his forehead in exasperation, sighing. "He's not right, about my training is he?" Asuma just gave Kakashi a deadpanned look, which caused the one-eyed jounin to faceplant.

Ino watched the door Naruto exited out of with a slightly jealous look, her eye twitching. First she and Sakura had a rivalry over Sasuke, and that was bad enough. Like hell she would watch one form because of Naruto! She clenched her fists only to look up in surprise at Shikamaru, the Nara laying his hand against her shoulder and giving a small squeeze. She merely rose an eyebrow and he gave a lazy smile. "Don't worry about Naruto or Sakura. He's merely going to help her become a better kunoichi, and I'm sure Sakura will still be head over heels about Sasuke. You've got no competition from her." The blonde gave a small smile at his words before nodding.

Naruto meanwhile had stopped in a small clearing with his arms crossed as he watched the female throw kunai at the tree. They all hit in various spots, some a little off but not bad overall. She was angry, he could practically feel the fury radiating off of her. "Hey, Sakura?" He called out to her. She tensed up, thinking it was Sasuke but relaxed slightly as she turned around and gazed upon him. She rose an eyebrow in a silent question, prompting him to explain the reason he was there. "Well," He scratched the back of his head, "you can't get stronger without a training partner, ne? So I'm going to help you out."

"Really? Why? I've been mean to you since the academy." She was confused now, her green eyes shimmering with curiosity and unshed tears. How could he even think about helping her? She bowed her head and quickly wiped her eyes. She was sick of crying for silly reasons. Suddenly her head was tilted up by Naruto's thumb and index finger, his ever so infamous foxy grin on his face.

"I've always considered you a friend, despite how you've treated me. So, as a friend, I'm going to help you. You ready?" She nodded and Naruto turned serious. "Alright, good. We'll spend five minutes stretching, twenty doing various exercises, and then thirty doing stamina training. We'll continue this even when we leave, then Shikamaru and Ino will join us." He noticed the small frown on Sakura's face at the mention of Ino's name but ignored it. "Let's get started."

The two started with light stretches, Naruto standing on one leg while bending the other back at the knee, his hand on it. Sakura followed suit, looking to him for guidance and instruction. After stretching their legs, the two stretched their arms and upper bodies, twisting from side to side, or doing windmills. After that, they did push-ups, sit-ups, crunches, bear crawls and others. Naruto was barley breaking a sweat, while his teammate was panting and taking deep gulps of air. He frowned somewhat before tossing her a water. She began to drink greedily, the water empty soon after. Naruto created a clone to go get some more water before Sakura looked at him. "Thank you, Naruto."

"For what? We're not done yet." He remarked, causing her to groan before standing. He pointed at the tree near them as he grinned, "Now we'll be running up the tree and running down it to help with stamina." With that, he ran up the tree and back down. After a moment's hesitation, the pinkette joined him. Soon the sun had vanished and the moon had come out to provide light under the night sky. The stars were out, with crickets and various other animals making their presence known. Naruto was standing at the bottom of the tree while Sakura finished her last lap. Reaching the ground, her knees buckled and she fell, Naruto reaching out to her. "Good job, Sakura. You're getting stronger already." She gave a weak smile as the two headed back to Tazuna's house to end the day, and begin their training once more in the morning.

* * *

Zabuza was laying in the bed provided to him by Gato. The drug pushing tyrant was currently on his way, according to Haku. "So, should we kill him?"

"No, because then we'll be on the run, Haku. We wait until we get the money, and then kill him. We go somewhere we can lay low and keep out of trouble." Zabuza grunted out, as he glanced at his apprentice. "Besides, we can't kill Gato yet. We gotta kill the bridge builder, get the money and then kill Gato."

Haku gave a small smile, his eyes crinkling up. "Of course, how silly of me." While Haku was against this action, he gave Zabuza his word that he was Zabuza's to use, he was merely a tool. The door opened, the two looking back to see Gato accompanied by two samurai.

"Well well well, look at this. Zabuza Momochi, 'Demon of the Hidden Mist' laying on his back like a whipped dog. Perhaps we should put the dog down, eh boys?" The light glinted off his sunglasses, as he twirled his mustache while leaning against his cane.

"Like hell you will, Gato. You need me and Haku to kill the old man." Zabuza retorted. He gripped the kunai underneath the covers, glaring at the man. As if he could cut Haku and himself out of the middle! Zabuza dared him to try.

"I don't really need someone who gets beaten by a few Leaf ninja. Some petty reinforcements." Gato reached forward, only for Haku to grip his wrist in a vice grip. He let out a strangled noise of pain, wrenching his arm free. "You fuckin' pig!" He cursed out. "You could've broken my arm!" While he stepped back, the samurai stepped forward and began to unsheathe their swords, only for the apprentice of Zabuza to disarm them in a blinding display of speed, a kunai to each of their throats.

"Don't even think about it. Leave, now." He said frostily.

"You'll pay for this." Gato warned darkly as he and his samurai departed.

"I could've handled that." Zabuza spoke as soon as Haku sat down, and the three men were gone and away from the room.

"Even so. Like you said, we can't afford to kill him just yet, now can we?" Haku said with a smile.

"I hate you sometimes." Came the grumpy reply.

"Love you too." Haku said cheerfully. Soon, Zabuza would be strong enough for round two with the Leaf village ninja, and they would succeed in their mission to kill Tazuna.

* * *

Well, sorry for the short chapter, I really am. The next chapter will conclude the Wave arc and a major character will die! Who will it be? :O

-V


	9. Naruto's new skills and Team Seven gone

Well, welcome back to Konoha's Most Unpredictable Conduit. This is the finale to the Wave arc, and the death of a major character.

-V

* * *

Naruto gazed up at the setting sun, panting as he shakily raised his hand towards the tree that was sporting burn marks and charred ember. He had been practicing his idea for his new attack for two hours now, and the Kyuubi had kept supplying him with smoke and energy. The fox had to give the boy credit, he hadn't given up yet, and his heart was in the right place. Perhaps Naruto could change the fox's view on humans. Only time would tell. He heard some clapping behind him, turning around to see Ino standing there with a smirk. "Working hard?"

Naruto shook his head affirmative, panting before he wiped sweat from his brow. After catching his breath, he looked at her, "What's up?"

"Well, dinner's ready and it's almost night. Don't you think it's time to call it quits?" She was leaning against the tree, observing him quietly.

"Nah, it's never time to call it quits." He smiled before walking towards her, only to stumble and fall onto one knee, hands on the ground as he panted.

"You idiot." She scolded gently, leaning down as she helped him up, draping one of his arms over her shoulder. She gazed at him out of the corner of her eye, before Naruto grinned. "What?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You're beautiful when you're scolding me. Well, beautiful in general." Naruto said, watching as she blushed and immediately avoided his gaze. His grin grew wider, his suspicions confirmed. Ino Yamanaka liked him. He squeezed her shoulder with the hand draped around her shoulder, watching her blush more.

"S-shut up, baka." Ino murmured, as they continued to walk to Tazuna's house. "Don't call me that."

"Why not? You're beautiful, like a flower." Naruto persisted, watching her blush and bite her lip.

"Sh-shut up!" She remarked, hiding her eyes.

"But Ino!" Naruto whined.

"What?" She asked softly, turning to look at him.

"I'm fine. And so are you." With that, the blonde quickly pressed his lips against her gently, before pulling back. "To answer any question you may have, yes, I do like you as well. Have for a long time." She gaped at him, mimicking a fish out of water. Naruto leaned forward, pushing her jaw up to close her mouth. "Without further ado, let's go inside and eat." He tugged on her arm, allowing herself to be dragged.

"Ah, there you two are. Were you two macking?" Shikamaru drawled out, watching as Ino blushed a deep red, while Naruto merely snorted. "Did you at least tell her how you feel, Naruto?" He nodded, to which Shikamaru grinned, "Good." The two sat down, and everyone began to eat, only for Inari, Tazuna's grandson to state something he had been stating since they got there.

"You're going to fail." He stated softly, glaring at everyone. "You all can't defeat Gato! You're all going to die! No one can defeat him."

"Inari!" Tsunami scolded. "You've been told time and time again not to bring up Gato."

"It's quite alright, Tsunami san. We're here to help." Kakashi said with an eye-smile.

"It doesn't matter! You all don't know how powerful he is. You teenagers have probably never experienced hurt, none of you! And you!" He pointed at Naruto. "You're always smiling and acting like nothing is wrong! Have you ever been hurt? Have you ever suffered loss? Have you even had it rough?"

Naruto pushed his chair back, grinning a grim smile at Inari, his eyes showing sadness. "Yes, I have. I've been hated by my village since I was born. I was adopted by the Nara clan at age 5, but before then I was on my own. I had to steal to survive, live in the shadows. I was beaten by the villagers for something I have no control over, and anytime I'm away from the clan compound, I'm hunted mercilessly by mobs that are out for my head. I have done nothing but serve my village loyally, yet people spit in my face for it. So yes, I have had it rough, I've suffered loss, and I have been hurt. But I don't mop or wallow in my self-pity. I train to prove to them that I'm here to stay, and nothing can stop me. If you wish to make your family proud, stop being such a little brat crybaby, and do something about it."

"Naruto! That was too far!" Sakura remarked, scolding him.

"Shut up, Sakura." Naruto growled out, before turning away.

"Where are you going?" Sasuke asked, eyeing his teammate.

"I'm going to go blow off some steam." He replied before shutting the door behind him.

Inari looked at the spot Naruto once sat in, tears in his eyes. Turning to Shikamaru, he whispered, "Is it true? What he said?" Seeing Shikamaru nod, Inari let the tears fall as he made his way to his room. Everyone else remained where they were, each thinking different things. Ino for one was worried about the blonde knucklehead, wondering if he was okay. She scooted her chair back and made an attempt to exit, only for a hand to grip onto her wrist. She gazed down to see Asuma holding her back.

"Asuma-Sensei?" She asked hesitantly, her eyes wide with confusion.

"Leave your new boyfriend alone. He needs to work on this on his own. If he's not back by midnight, you can go look for him." He muttered, chewing on his cigarette. Ino bit her lip, satisfied with the answer before she retired to her room as well.

Meanwhile in the forest, Naruto sat in the middle of a clearing, letting out a small grunt as he fired off a smoke blast from his hand. "Damn it! I can't seem to concentrate it more than two times for each finger." He growled and quickly created a group of clones, "You all are to help me with the technique, understand?" The clones nodded, as they began to practice the attack, charging each blast with each finger before trying to surpass the limit of just two shots. Four hours passed, with Naruto passing out in the middle of the forest, over exerting himself. Ino had fallen asleep waiting for midnight to come, resting against the wall, before Asuma carried her to the girls' bedroom and laid her down.

XxXx

The next day, the birds were chirping softly and the sun was just beginning to rise, fog surrounding the area. Haku was busy picking out herbs for Zabuza's restoration. They planned to attack Tazuna and end the bridge building process in six hours' time, or three o'clock, when Tazuna started to work on the bridge. The accomplice of the rouge-ninja moved into a clearing after seeing charred trees and was instantly on guard. The blonde boy with the strange powers had been here. He continued to pick herbs, although was on his guard. He continued cautiously, absentmindedly picking the right herbs he needed until he came across the boy. He looked unconscious. '_The boy with weird powers, still out here? And it appears he's alone and unconscious. Now's my chance.' _He slowly crept up to Naruto, before leaning down as he prepared to snap his neck. His hands slowly reached out, preparing to grasp around Naruto's neck, only for approaching footsteps to alert him. He cursed his luck, before moving his hand to the boy's shoulder and shaking. Naruto awoke in a sleepy state, yawning before he blinked. "Wazzgoin'on?"

"You could catch a cold out here. Why were you sleeping out here anyway?" Haku asked with a smile.

"Yeah, baka. Why were you sleeping out here anyway?" Came the irritated female voice of one Ino Yamanaka.

"Thank you." Naruto said as he got up from the ground, before turning to Ino. "Sorry Ino, I just lost track of time and fell asleep out here." He shrugged. "What's the big deal?"

"I was worried." She retorted back, before turning to Haku. "Who are you?"

"Oh, I'm Haku. I was just out collecting herbs for a loved one. My grandfather you see, he's very sick and requires these herbs if he has any chance to survive." Haku explained, giving off a smile.

Naruto and Ino nodded, momentarily satisfied with the answer. "Do you want any help? I work at a flower shop and I'm good with medicinal herbs." She offered.

Haku nodded with another smile, "Sure, I wouldn't mind the extra help." So together, the three started to pick the herbs. After a moment or two of silence, he stated, "So, you two are ninja?"

"Yep, that's right! We're here to protect a client." Naruto responded with a grin.

"Why were you training out here all night, anyway?" Ino asked, intrigued. Haku was curious as well.

Naruto looked away for a moment, silent. He turned to both of them with a fire in his eyes, determination written all over his face. "All throughout my life I've been overestimated and judged for something I have no control over. I aim to change that by proving to everyone in the village that I'm a capable ninja, and that I am Naruto Uzumaki Nara, not what they view me as."

"And what do they view you as?" Haku asked. For a moment, he saw the same hurt in his eyes that Haku had in his. He knew what Haku had gone through. Almost the same, it seemed.

"As something not human." Naruto replied vaguely, knowing that Ino couldn't know about the fox.

"Oh. Do you have anyone precious to you?" Haku pondered. "Is that why you train? You see, I ask because are you training for the villagers, or for someone dear to you?"

Naruto blinked and began to think back. After a moment, he smiled, "Yeah, I do have someone special. Several people, actually." He almost glanced at Ino, but didn't. He didn't quite know what they were yet.

"Well, I'm sure you will succeed in your dream, Naruto. And Ino, thank you for your help." Haku stood up and began to walk away. "Oh, and by the way...I'm a boy."

"WHAT?!" The two chorused, eyes wide and bulging out of their skull, their jaws dropped to the ground. Haku merely gave a smile and walked away, disappearing into the fog. Ino turned to Naruto after a moment, a small blush on her face. "Naruto?"

"Mm?" He murmured, turning to look at her.

"Am I one of those special people?" She whispered. Naruto nodded, to which Ino's blush intensified before she grinned. She leaned in close, pressing her lips against his gently before pulling back. "Thank you. But why didn't you say so in front of Haku?"

He shrugs, "To be honest, something about him put me on edge. Dunno what it is. I'm sure it was just goosebumps due to the morning air. Let's go back to Tazuna's house, ne?" She nodded, looking at him as he extended his hand out. She hesitantly wrapped her hand and intertwined her fingers with his, the two making their way back to their client's house. As soon as they entered the doorway, Naruto promptly collapsed.

"Naruto!" Ino exclaimed, leaning down to check his pulse. She found one, and breathed a sigh of relief. "You stupid baka." She mumbled to herself. Looking up, she gazed upon Shikamaru and Sasuke.

"What happened to the dobe?" Sasuke asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Gonna assume chakra exhaustion, considering how the moron was out all night training." Shikamaru muttered while walking over. "Such a drag." He hefted his brother over his shoulder, while Sasuke grabbed the other. Kakashi gazed upon the scene with a critical eye, focused on the blonde student before dismissing it. Naruto wasn't in danger, he would just need a few hours of rest.

Turning to Asuma, Kakashi muttered, "How long until you think Zabuza strikes?"

"Well, considering how it's been a week, I'm going to bet today. So we gotta be on our guard." Asuma replied back, chewing on his cigarette. Kakashi nodded and proceeded to pull out his book, his comrade unable to determine what the 'Copy-Cat' ninja was thinking at the moment.

* * *

Six hours had passed, the sun rising well into the air as everyone except Naruto had lunch. The blonde headed ninja was quietly sleeping in his room, even though Ino wanted to go stay with him, Asuma ordered her to stay out with them. Tazuna stood up and gave a deep exhale, "Well, let's get to it, shall we? The bridge is almost complete." The two teams left, with Tsunami cooking a small snack for Inari, and Inari sitting at the table.

Meanwhile in the forest, two bandits of Gato's were headed straight towards Tazuna's place, killing and rape on their mind.

"Gah, I can't believe they didn't wake me!" Naruto exclaimed as he quickly got into his clothes. He ran downstairs as he looked at Tsunami, "Bridge?"

"Bridge." She confirmed with a nod, as Naruto rushed out the door. She started to wash dishes calling out to her son, "Inari, can you come her for a moment?"

Naruto quickly travelled through the forest, heading towards the bridge. "God damn it. Can't believe they didn't wake me! How else are they going to defeat these guys?" He said this to himself in a joking tone, quickly stopping to a halt as he gazed upon the scratched up bark and completely massacred corpse of a hog. He narrowed his eyes, before they widened ever so slightly. "Tsnumai and Inari! Shit!" He quickly turned around and rushed back the other way, intent on saving the two.

XxXx

"What the? What happened?" Tazuna asked out in shock, mainly to himself as he and the Leaf ninja stared out at the carnage that was currently strewn across his bridge. There were bodies everywhere, blood coating the pavement. Tazuna took a wobbly step back, while Team Ten immediately surrounded him, kunai drawn. Asuma and Kakashi were on their guard, Sasuke and Sakura standing close.

"Heh, good to see you back on your feet Kakashi. And without the blonde punk, you all don't stand a chance against me and Haku this time. You all will fall before us." Zabuza boasted out confidently as fog descended upon the area, slightly obscuring the vision of the Leaf ninja. Sasuke let out a gasp, as water clones emerged and surrounded them all, before a smirk crossed his face, his kunai shaking. "See? Even that brat is shaking in his sandals. He's scared."

"Oh, I'm shaking from excitement, not fear." Sasuke replied with a wider smirk.

"Go, Sasuke." Kakashi confirmed and in a flash of blue and white, Sasuke was off, quickly destroying the clones.

'_So, he's gotten faster?' _Asuma thought, eyeing Zabuza warily.

"Seems the brat's faster than before. Good for him, but he's still no match for Haku." Zabuza retorted, "Go on, Haku."

The fake Hunter-nin silently stepped forward, as Sasuke did the same. The two stood off against each other, before Sasuke ran at Haku. The two met in the middle, kunai and senbon needle clashing. "You've already lost. You see I have two advantages over you. The first one is that we're surrounded by water." Haku spoke, as he quickly kicked Sasuke away, only for the Uchiha to land safely, charging once more. They quickly countered blows, Haku pulling out a second senbon. "You see, and the second one is, I've blocked your other hand, and if you make an attempt to move, I'll kill you."

"Oh really?" Sasuke challenged, arrogance dripping off his voice as he quickly pushed Haku back before dropping to a crouch, slamming his foot into Haku's stomach, sending the boy flying back where he lay still for a moment in front of Zabuza.

"Seems you may actually have some fun, Haku." Zabuza remarked, pulling out his giant meat cleaver like sword, gazing at Kakashi and Asuma.

"Indeed." Haku replied, as he slowly stood back up. "But he's fallen into my trap." He quickly began to go through hand-signs, as the water surrounding Sasuke from the destroyed water clones began to rise and form into ice mirrors, like before. Sasuke was effectively trapped, unless Shikamaru thought of a plan.

"Ice mirrors? Please." Sasuke scoffed.

"Sasuke, don't be so cocky!" Kakashi chided, his Sharingan eye spinning wildly. "That was no normal jutsu. It appears it's a bloodline limit, so not even the Sharingan can copy it."

Sasuke's confidence faltered slightly, before it struck back up in full force. "Pft, I'm not letting this freak defeat me. I have a goal to accomplish, after all." As always, it seemed Sasuke was all about his brother's demise. He quickly drew a kunai as he grinned. "Bring it on." Haku merely melded into the mirrors, appearing as a one-dimensional version of himself.

"As you wish." He said in a monotonous voice before throwing his senbon needles. Sasuke dodged the first wave, before the next managed to graze his skin, cutting up his clothes.

"Fast." He muttered, as he eyed Haku, narrowed in thought. "How am I going to attack him, if he's moving with the mirrors? I doubt fire can destroy it." He quickly jumped back, dodging needles before spinning around and deflecting the next. "Now it's a test of endurance and who can hold out the longest, for I'm sure his chakra control will run out sometime soon." His mind ran to his blonde teammate. "Wonder how the dobe's doing."

XxXx

Said blonde was currently setting down Tsunami's tied up form next to Inari, before turning to the two samurai, a cold look in his eye. "Picking on innocent women and children, scum?"

"What the? How'd the brat get our prize?" The larger one claimed.

"Doesn't matter. Just kill the shit." The smaller one retorted, as the two drew their swords. However, before they could charge or anything two kunai quickly plunged themselves within their heads, killing them instantly. The two clones Naruto had created disappeared, and Naruto had no time to laminate on his first kills. He crouched beside Tsunami and untied her, creating another clone.

"Take her to their house, and create more from my reserves if need be. Inari, you okay?" He asked, seeing the boy nod. He ruffled his hair. "I'm proud of you. Charging into battle to protect your loved ones is a brave thing to do. Your father would be proud. Now, I'm late enough as it is." Without another word, Naruto quickly ran off, heading towards the bridge to help out his friends and team.

XxXx

Sasuke was busy deflecting and dodging the needles, but they eventually overwhelmed the Uchiha. He curled up into the fetal position, trying to cover his body the best he could all the while ignoring the stinging motions the needles brought whenever they cut into his skin. He grit his teeth together, "Hurry up dobe, where are you?"

Team Ten watched on as they guarded Tazuna. Kakashi and Zabuza were at a stand-still, with Asuma ready to jump in at a moments notice. "You see, you made a mistake in calling my team a bunch of brats. That's a sure way to rile up Sasuke's attitude. He's the best fighter in the Leaf village, while Sakura is our sharpest mind. Last but not least, Naruto is our number one hyperactive knuckleheaded ninja, and you're in for a fight once he gets here. While he may not be on par with Sasuke, he is still a handful."

"Pft. I think the idiot's stronger than Sasuke, he's just hiding it." Shikamaru drawled out, while observing the situation. He didn't see a way to break through the ice mirrors.

"Take it back, lazy ass." Sakura retorted, her fan girl coming out before she pulled out a kunai. Without warning, she rushed off and headed to the ice mirrors. She quickly jumped away from Kakashi and Zabuza, ignoring the hands that reached out towards her to stop her. While she was the weakest on their team, she wanted to help! She quickly launched back the kunai before pulling out two more and throwing them. To their dismay, Haku merely plucked the first one out of midair and caught it, before deflecting the other two back at her. However, a small concentrated ball of fiery embers and smoke shot out from the mist, deflecting the kunai towards Sakura, before three more shot out and landed against Haku, sending the boy crashing away from his mirror and into the ground. Sakura opened her eyes to see the familiar eagle on Naruto's vest, before the blonde headed ninja quickly disappeared, traveling into the ice mirror. A moment later, Sasuke appeared in front of Sakura.

"Keep the arrogant asshole safe." Naruto said before turning around, deflecting the needles that were heading towards him. "Yo, fake ninja! If you want to fight, let's do it mono e mono. And no ice mirrors, cheater."

Haku regarded him for a moment, before nodding. "What are you doing, boy?" Zabuza asked incredulously, eyes wide at what his accomplice was doing.

"You know me Zabuza, I fight fair. But one thing, blondie, the mirrors stay up so no one on the other side will have to see our fight." Haku replied before shrugging his shoulders. He drew his needles and fell into a defensive stance. "Prepare yourself."

"Naruto, be careful." Sasuke coughed out. "While he's not as fast with the mirrors, he's still fast." He leaned against Sakura, while Naruto nodded. The blonde headed conduit turned only for Kakashi to motion to him.

"What is it, Kakashi-Sensei? I'm sure this guy wants to get this over with as much as me." Naruto protested, eye twitching.

"While that may be true, I have a gift for you. To be honest, I completely forgot about it, but I'm sure it'll come in handy." Kakashi replied easily, quickly pulling out a small package from his vest, tossing it to Naruto before Zabuza or Haku could react. "Consider it a late birthday gift."

Naruto opened it quickly, only for it to reveal a chain that quickly unrolled, curling up against the ground. He blinked and decided not to question it, as it felt natural to him. He quickly deflected the needles with a kunai in one hand, before lashing out at Haku with the chain, watching as it lit up with fire and smoke. "Oh this is too cool. Must've been Delsin's." He concluded, smoke dashing around Haku, slamming his foot into Haku's lower back. The older boy stumbled before twirling around and returning the favor with a swift palm strike to Naruto's face. Naruto ignored the pain of his nose breaking, knowing that the fox would fix it later, ducking under his needles before delivering three strikes to Haku's midsection. The boy backflipped, dodging the kunai that had came at him from behind. Sakura launched a few more, tears streaming down her face. "Sakura, what's wrong?!"

"It's Sasuke. He's gone cold and I can't feel a pulse. That boy must have done something!" She cried out in anger and agony, launching a few more. However, Haku quickly appeared behind her and aimed a needle at her throat.

"Don't move, or I'll kill you." Haku promised, the needle's point digging into her flesh slightly. Sakura however, seemed not to care as she quickly jumped away and aimed a strike towards Haku's mask. The boy merely dodged and retaliated with breaking her arm below the elbow, and pushing her back. She stumbled and fell over the side of the bridge, her body landing against a support beam. Naruto quickly rushed over to see the pinkette landed at an odd angle, her head tilted slightly. He quickly jumped down, ignoring Haku for a moment as he cradled Sakura in his arms.

"S-Sakura? Hey, come on now, wake up." He whispered, brushing her hair away from her face, only for his hand to come into contact with the warm stickiness of blood. He swallowed the lump in his throat before he lifted her head up slightly, only to hear the small '_schlick' _of something leaving her head. He peered over her, to gaze upon the nails that were embedded within her head. Fearing the worst, he quickly created a clone. "You! Keep giving her CPR and try to find a pulse!" The clone nodded, noting the seriousness of the situation before the original quickly hopped back up onto the bridge, seeing Haku waiting for him. He narrowed his eyes and clenched his fists, growling out, "You might have killed her!"

"I told her not to move." Haku replied simply, the words killing him inside. He wasn't a violent person by nature, but he was Zabuza's tool, and Zabuza commanded that he get rid of the Leaf ninja to get to Tazuna, and that's what he would do. However, he took a step back after he saw the chakra that was emitting from Naruto's being. Blood red in color, it bubbled slightly as Naruto crouched down on all fours, a fox's head being created in the sky before disappearing. "What..what is this? His chakra is visible!" He whispered out, gasping before the blood red eyes of Naruto gazed at him in all of their righteous fury.

XxXx

"What is this? This chakra, it's suffocating!" Shikamaru wheezed out, noting Tazuna was slowly dropping to his knees due to the hate and bloodlust that covered the area.

"Is that Haku? No, it can't be. It's too dark...too alive." Zabuza muttered, eyes narrowed in thought.

_'This chakra...Naruto! Has the seal broke? No, we would have all died by now if it had. It seems that the seal has merely cracked, and the charka's leaking out. But what could have caused this anger?' _Kakashi thought to himself, keeping a wary eye on Naruto.

"Naruto. I hope you're okay, idiot." Ino muttered, biting her lip as she shook off the feeling that she got. "Where'd Sakura go?" She wondered.

Choji was busy looking around, eyes wide in fear. Asuma kept his cool, eyes peeled for any threats, even though he knew what the chakra was.

XxXx

**"I'll kill you!" **Naruto promised before rushing forward, disappearing in a red blur. His fist came into contact with Haku's stomach, causing him to double over before Naruto kneed him in the face, causing the mask to crack a little. The angered teenager spun around and slammed his elbow into the back of Haku's head, causing him to stumble, only for Haku to grasp at his throat as Naruto's chain wrapped around his neck. Naruto grinned darkly, giving in to his dark urges, tightening his grip.

_'Naruto, stop! You don't have to kill him! That's not the right thing to do!' _Delsin called out within his mind, momentarily snapping Naruto out of his bloodlust.

_**'Do not listen to the human, kit. Kill him for hurting your teammate!'** _The Kyuubi urged, angered at Delsin's interruption.

Naruto blinked for a moment, at a loss to do. The potential death of Sakura fueled the urge to kill this fake Hunter-ninja, but his morals and great power and even greater responsibility stopped him. The chakra surrounding him eventually faded, though Naruto's animalistic features remained. His claws were still there, the dark whisker marks and fangs, along with the blood red eyes. His grip loosened on the chain, allowing Haku to get free, before the ice wielder quickly pulled out two senbon needles and rushed him. Naruto smoke dashed around him, before charging up a smoke blast within his hand. Facing Haku's back, and empowered with Kyuubi's chakra, the blast tore up the clothing and skin of Haku, sending him propelling into his ice mirrors, shattering the one he went through, before the boy slammed into the other one and went through that one as well.

Zabuza, Kakashi, Team Ten, Tazuna and Asuma gazed upon the bloody and burning back of Haku, while the boy merely lay there motionless. "Haku?" Zabuza muttered, eyes wide in shock. The boy in question merely struggled to get up, only for Naruto to kick him in the side, sending the boy skidding across the pavement.

"Naruto!" Kakashi called out, only for Naruto to pay him no heed.

"You killed her." He muttered, his statement heard by the jounin present.

"There's a chance she's alive." Haku muttered weakly, as he faced Naruto on wobbly feet. The mask cracked even more, falling to reveal Haku's bloody face. Naruto stopped a few feet away, shock written all over his face.

"H-Haku? I...why? Why are you working with him?" Naruto asked, his Kyuubi-influenced looks disappearing completely.

"Because he saved me. He had the same look in his eyes and you or I have. He gave me a purpose to live. You said in the forest that your purpose was to protect your loved ones and get respect? Well, he gave me a a purpose. Serve him, give all of my abilities to him. And so I did, simply because I had a reason to live again." Haku explained, smiling fondly on the memory. "However, now that I'm a broken tool, I am no use to him. So do it. Kill me." Naruto stepped forward, reaching out his hand, grasping Haku's in one brief moment. That one brief moment caused something to happen to Naruto. It gave him the power of ice, as spikes of the element jutted out from the bridge, impaling Haku in one swift moment.

"I...what? What the hell?" Naruto uttered out, stepping back from the impaled corpse. He looked down at his hands to find them shaking.

"Naruto, snap out of it. In case you haven't realized, we still have Zabuza to deal with." Kakashi warned, watching as Naruto jumped away from Zabuza's sword, only for the missing Mist ninja to try again. Naruto smoke dashed around him, quickly shooting out smoke and ice simultaneously, the ability to switch from one power to the other appearing to be interchangeable. Kakashi dashed forward, dodging Zabuza's swing, while Naruto aimed a roundhouse kicked that was blocked, before being pushed back. "I got this Naruto. Go find Sakura." Kakashi ordered, his kunai clashing with Zabuza's sword.

Naruto, realizing Sakura rushed away from the group, jumping back down to see the clone holding onto the pale, cold body of one Sakura Haruno. "She...she's dead?" The original whispered, only for the clone to nod once before dispelling. Naruto felt the tears stream down his face, but paid them no heed. He wordlessly picked up Sakura's body within his arms, jumping back onto the bridge to see Kakashi impaling Zabuza with a lightning based attack, and Sasuke still un-moving.

"Naruto? Why's Sakura in your arms? And why are you crying?" Shikamaru muttered out, only for his eyes to widen in shock, once he noticed the blood dripping from her head. He said nothing, as Naruto walked past him, and set her body down gently before they all heard clapping.

"Well well, seems the great Zabuza has fallen. Such a shame that we're going to have to deal with the bridge builder ourselves boys. And since we're here, why don't we pay the town a visit?" The wheezy voice of Gato reached their ears. Naruto turned around, fury in his eyes as he let out a small growl. "Oh look at that, the small boy is angry!" They all began to laugh at him, only for Naruto's mentality to snap a little. Before anyone could stop him, he quickly created a small army of clones, the original rushing forward and grabbing Zabuza's sword, dragging it behind him with some difficulty. "What the hell, stop him!" Gato ordered, only for his band of thugs to turn tail and run, being tackled or slaughtered by the Naruto's. Gato found himself staring into the blood red eyes of the original before he sliced cleanly through the millionaire, spraying blood in the air. Gato and his thugs effectively destroyed, Naruto turned around, hefting Zabuza's sword over his shoulder, only for his chakra to light up the blade, transforming it. It no longer looked like a meat cleaver, but as a mere katana, with flames running up one side of the hilt, and ice running up the other.

"Well, that's new." Naruto muttered, strapping the sword over his back before growing somber. He walked over to Sakura's lifeless body, picking it up within his arms. "Kakashi-Sensei, do you think the village will mind if we bury her here?"

Kakashi thought for a moment, seeing Naruto's distress. "No, I think they'll understand. But as for Sasuke, he'll have to be sealed up into a scroll and brought back to the village."

"What? Sasuke's dead? But...but how?" Naruto asked, looking at his sensei.

"It seems that during their fight, Haku managed to strike enough wounds and poison one too many senbon needles and that took effect." Kakashi explained somberly, saddened at the death of his two students. The vibrant ray of sunshine that was Naruto was still there, but it seemed like the clouds had hidden his exuberant attitude at the moment. Naruto nodded, before carrying Sakura off without a word, Kakashi sealing away Sasuke's body for later burial.

XxXx

Naruto stared out into the ocean, staring at the three graves reserved for Zabuza, Haku, and Sakura Haruno. He was currently remembering the talks he and Sakura had, pleasant or not. He also remembered the training he promised to give her, but now she would never receive it. Tears falling down his face, he cried silently to himself, until a person joined him. He looked up through bloodshot eyes to see Ino standing there, a single dandelion in her hand. "It represents the faithfulness, and kindness in a person. Sakura was faithful to Sasuke, and kind to all of us in the very end." She planted the flower, standing up as tears ran down her face. "She was my best friend, and only rival. But now she's gone." She whispered. Naruto approached her, hugging her tightly as they cried together. Slowly, but surely the two left in better spirits, still a little down at the death of Sakura, still having one more funeral to attend when they got back to the village.

As the Leaf ninja left the country of Wave, Tazuna was asked what he would name the bridge. He simply replied, "The Great Naruto bridge." The villagers were content with that, and left it alone.

XxXx

With the return to the Leaf village, Team Ten and the remaining members of Team Seven were debriefed. The Third Hokage listened as to how Sakura and Sasuke fell, and how Gato and his iron fist were vanquished once and for all. The funeral of Sasuke Uchiha was attended by everyone in the village, Mokito Uchiha seeking consolation in one Kakashi Hatake, the two helping each other cope, even though Kakashi was only his teacher. Naruto took Sasuke's death hard, seeing Sasuke as a rival and as a sort of brother.

Choji Akimichi eventually left the ninja business, settling on helping his mother work and manage the BBQ restaurant they owned. So, the Third Hokage gave Naruto a choice. Join Team Ten, or wait until a new squad graduated from the academy the following year. Naruto agreed only on one condition: that Kakashi got to help oversee his training. The Hokage agreed to this, and thus, Naruto was the new member of Team Ten, Team Seven effectively vanishing into thin air.

* * *

I hope you all have enjoyed this chapter. Naruto can manipulate more than one power, and use them at the same time. Hope you all didn't take the deaths of Sasuke and Sakura too hard.

-V


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